


Umbra

by bobbysghost



Category: Iron Man - Fandom, Marvel, The Avengers, Tony Stark - Fandom
Genre: Avengers Get a New Member, Based off The Avengers, F/M, OC is enhanced, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-03-27 03:51:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 24,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13872513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobbysghost/pseuds/bobbysghost
Summary: Despite the fact she's kept herself locked away since her powers came to light, Grey Caron is suddenly granted with a choice - to stay with her boring job, boring apartment, boring life, or to become one of Earth's mightiest heroes. The choice is obvious, but was it the right one?





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, welcome to my new fic! This is new to me, so please anyone give me some constructive criticism! This is a Tony Stark fanfiction with my OC, Grey :) Hope everybody enjoys!

Director Nick Fury walked up the steps to the small, rundown apartment, of which’s door graced the space in front of him. London, England was never Fury’s favourite place to be for an extended period of time; the tourists, the crowds, and the rain were just some of the annoyances of the city, but he knew the reason he was there was more important than his own pet peeves.

As he stood at the door, he glanced down at the files in his hand, one labelled ‘the Avenger Initiative’ and the other, ‘Umbra– Grey Caron’. Fury sighed as he flicked through the second file, pausing at several photos showing a young woman, newspaper clippings (all seemingly describing the same laboratory fire), and strange photos on what appeared to be floating phones, coffees, and clothes.

Fury eventually moved to knock at the door, but as he raised his hand, the door opened. Before him, a soft, medium sized grey shirt floated, as if a body was wearing it. A pair of socks folded over each other like feet, one rubbing up an invisible leg as an air of curiosity surrounded Fury and the outline in front of him.  
Fury cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow, taking in the obscure person in front of him before he started to speak. “Miss Caron, I presume?”

“That depends on who’s asking,” a woman’s voice came from the figure, the tone light but with an underlay of suspicion. She had a British accent, but some of the words she spoke were rounded with French pronunciation. 

“Director Fury, here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.” 

The invisible veil started to melt away, and a young woman stood before Fury. Her light brown hair was loose around her head, and she stared at Fury with suspicion as she moved to let him into her small apartment. (Y/N)’s eyes were narrowed as she watched him, and she zoned straight into the file in his hand.  


“Why do you have a file with my name on it?” she asked, her apprehension towards Fury growing by the minute. “What importance do I have to you people?”

“We’ve been keeping tabs on you, Miss Caron. For a good three years now.” Fury slapped the two files down on the coffee table between the two couches and sat down, looking up at Grey, who continued to stand, her arms wrapped protectively around herself as he spoke.. “We started after the fire at the Palynological Laboratory here in London, and we’ve continued ever since.” 

“Why?” Grey asked in exasperation, “I’ve been quiet, I haven’t caused any trouble. I have a job, a home, I’m a normal person!”

“But you’re not normal, Grey, that’s why we’ve been tracking you and why I’m here on your couch.” Fury explained, looking up at her. “’Umbra’– that’s why I’m here.”

Grey scoffed, rolling her eyes at his words. “That’s what they’re calling me? ‘Shadow’ in Latin? Creative.” She looked down at the files as she sat on the opposite couch. “What do ‘the Avengers’ have to do with ‘Umbra’?”

“We want you to join us,” before Grey could say anything, Fury quickly continued despite her glowering expression. “A hostile force has taken a very powerful weapon from S.H.I.E.L.D., and we’re bringing together a group of people – enhanced people, like you – to get it back.”

“What people?” Grey asked, “If you had stalked me thoroughly, you should know I prefer my own company.”

Fury gave a wry smile as he nodded. “Then you’ll fit right in. We’re bringing in a number of superior humans. It’s all in the file.” 

Grey picked up the folder, flipping through it. Her eyes landed on one name, and she groaned. “Tony Stark, that insufferable man from the news?”

“His power is something we cannot afford to ignore. You’re not the only one to complain.” Fury let out a chuckle as he stood up, brushing his hands on his black trousers. “I’ve got a flight back to DC to catch. A car will come to collect you at 0800 hours... are you ready to become one of Earth’s mightiest heroes?”

“I don’t have much of a choice, do I, Sir?” Grey stood up as well, her face retaining the calm expression she’d wore for the entire conversation. Fury turned to her, resting a heavy hand on her shoulder.

“You don’t have to get in that car tomorrow, Grey. You can stay here, with your job and your apartment, and we can continue watching you... or you can come with us and maybe make an impact on this world. It’s your own choice.”

With that last sentence, Fury left, leaving Grey alone with her thoughts and two large piles of paperwork. She sighed, the exhaustion she felt finally showing through as she sat back down on the couch. She rubbed her eyes as she looked down at both files. As her eyes focused on her own folder, bright images of orange, flickering flames invaded her mind. She pushed that one away with an air of disgust, instead opting to open the Avengers profile.

Scenes of gunfire filled her vision as she took everything in. Assassins and Gods, billionaires and war heroes... Grey gulped as she continued to read, frowning in disbelief at some of the information written in there.

“Am I really expected to fight with these people?” she mumbled to herself, and already she felt small compared to them. 

Though Grey didn’t notice, the lamps surrounding her in her apartment had started to flicker. As she continued to read, her anxiety about this task grew, and as Grey felt her chest start to tighten in fear, the light bulb next to her suddenly blew.

Grey jumped, her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she stared at the light. All the others had stopped glowing curiously as she focused on the one lamp. She reserved it just to the bulb burning out, but a tiny voice in her mind whispered sinisterly; “it was you.”

‘That’s enough for today.’ Grey thought, her breathing finally slowing. She slapped the file back down on the table, and headed into her own bedroom. Her mind was full of doubts and questions, ones that could only be answered by actually getting in the car that would be arriving in a few hours.

Grey was still unsure whether to accept Fury’s offer or not. She decided to sleep on it, but throughout the night she tossed and turned, unable to close her eyes without seeing fire and bullets.

In the end, Grey dug out an old suitcase from the bottom of her wardrobe, absentmindedly filling it until it was full. She then sat, simply thinking, until a knock at the door came at eight o’clock that morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! I love writing Natasha, and I hope you guys like the way I've written her!

“Calm down, you look like you’re ready to rip that armrest off.”

Grey glanced over at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, who was sitting in the seat opposite her, with little regard. The car that came in the morning had taken her to a private air field where a quinjet was ready to take her directly to the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. It was Grey’s first time on a plane, let alone a private one taking her out of England, and she was terrified.

Her eyes travelled back to the agent as a distraction. She was extremely pretty, short flame red hair gently brushing against her shoulders and blue eyes which could’ve belonged to a doll. However, (Y/N) knew those eyes could aim a bullet through a targets head, so she didn’t just reserve her to ‘beautiful’. She knew better than that.

“You’re Natasha Romanoff.”

The agent nodded with a small smile on her lips. “You did the reading.”

“I like to know who I’m working with, it doesn’t happen often.” Grey eyed Natasha, her gut feeling telling her that she could trust this woman. She was safe.

“You’re right, it doesn’t. You don’t even chat to your neighbours in that apartment of yours.”

A groan escaped Grey as she buried her face in her hands, “is there anybody who hasn’t stalked me?”

Natasha gave a small laugh, and shook her head with a “Not really,”, as a robotic voice sounded from the speakers, which had been previously playing a mellow jazz playlist.

“We will be landing in T-minus five minutes. Please stay seated with seatbelts on. The time is 1300 hours, temperature being 68 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Looking out of the small cabin window, Grey’s mouth dropped. She assumed they were landing inland, but the view from the quinjet was just a vast ocean. 

“Where are we landing, the water?” Grey asked incredulously, looking back at Natasha.

“Don’t be stupid.” She grinned slyly, looking out a window herself.

Grey turned her eyes back to the scene before her, still seeing only water. She braced herself for a wet landing until she felt the wheels of the jet touch down on solid land, which made her even more confused.

“Where are we?” she asked again as Natasha unclipped her seatbelt and stood up. 

The door of the quinjet opened, letting in streams of bright, undisturbed sunlight which made Grey wince. London was never this sunny. 

“Welcome,” Natasha started, gesturing to Grey to start making her way off the quinjet, “to the Helicarrier, the portable S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.”

As Grey made her way off the jet, her eyes grew and her jaw dropped. She was on a military industrial boat in the middle of the vast ocean. Everywhere she looked there where planes similar to the one she was on, and dozens of stoic looking people, obviously other agents. Grey made a mental note to stay away from them, or to at least be invisible when they were around.

“This way,” Natasha said, flashing a smile in Grey’s direction. “Boss just informed me you’re the first one here, so I’ll show you to your room, and then you can be debriefed when the others arrive.”

Grey followed Natasha through the inside of the Helicarrier. She looked around curiously, intrigue and anxiety sparking in her as they passed the laboratories where numerous scientists were using state of the art equipment to carry out their experiments. 

Grey hadn’t been anywhere near a science workshop since the fire. She was quiet as they walked past it, unintentionally moving away from the entrance. Natasha noted this.

The two girls travelled towards a set of rooms, and Natasha pointed Grey into hers. It was a modest sized room; furnished with a bed, a side table and a chest of draws. Through one door resided an en suit, which Grey was especially drawn to.  
“This is amazing,” she whispered softly. Natasha smiled wryly.

“That’s nothing. Wait until you see your suit.”

Grey felt confusion pass over her face until Natasha pressed a combination of numbers on a keypad which Grey had completely unnoticed. A pair of hidden doors slid open to reveal a deep purple cat suit, complete with leather holsters for several guns, knives and other weapons.

“The atoms in the material have been genetically mixed with the DNA of cuttlefish,” Natasha let out a laugh as she explained, “trust me on this, it’s interesting. Cuttlefish are able to camouflage themselves in any surroundings, and with a bit of tweaking from our scientists, this suit should render you-”

“-Completely invisible.” Grey finished in a breathy whisper, her eyes wide. “This is... truly outstanding scientific work.” Her fingers traced alongside the arm of the suit lovingly but delicately, as if her mere touch would break it.

“Do you like it? The holsters are the same. We have some boots as well.” Natasha said, a large smile on her face.

“Of course I do- thank you so much for it,” Grey turned to Natasha with a questionable expression. “But how did you know I’d need it? I could’ve refused Fury’s proposition.”

Natasha said simply, “we knew you’d say yes.”

Grey raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth ready to retort, but Natasha was already out the door, waving her hand goodbye. “Try on the suit! I’ll be back later to bring you to debriefing.”

When the door shut behind her, Grey dived to the suit, ripping off her own clothes in haste to try it on. It fit perfectly, gliding over her curves like oil paints on a canvas. Grey looked nervously in the mirror, before taking in a breath, and closing her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, Grey couldn’t see her reflection in the mirror. No shirt resting against invisible shoulders, no socks walking on the floor by themselves, just...

...nothing.

Yet, Grey finally felt powerful.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the short chapters, they will somehow get longer I swear :D

Grey made her way to the control bay of the Helicarrier, still invisible. She lingered at the doors of one laboratory for a while, before moving along before she was sucked in. She spied Natasha standing by one of the many computers, and hastily shuffled to stand by her, dropping her invisibility as she went.

The computer showed the face of a man, and Grey looked at it curiously. Above the figure was the name “Clinton Barton”. Grey thought back to the reading she’d done the previous night. This man was Hawkeye, a fellow ‘Avenger’. Grey noted the large ‘COMPROMISED’ sign over his name.

Natasha cleared her throat, before looking back down at Clint’s face. “My partner. He’s been compromised. He’s part of the reason we’re bringing everyone in.” She sucked in a breath, before regaining her composure. “You should hold on, we’re about to take off.”

“Take off?”

Grey’s dubious repetition was left unanswered as she felt a jerk, and she felt the sensation of going up in an elevator, the twisting in her stomach making her involuntarily vanish again. A computer nearby her sparked and shut off, causing an agent to groan in annoyance. As the Helicarrier straightened out again, Grey reappeared, her face significantly paler than the previous moment.

“You didn’t tell me this thing fucking flew,” she grumbled.

Natasha let out a snort, before mentioning “the suit really does work well on you.” Grey shot her a look, before Natasha left, saying something about ‘bringing in the new recruits’.

Looking around, Grey had time to fully take in the insides of where she was staying. A large circular stage was placed in the middle of the aircraft, screens and computers surrounding it. She assumed that was where Director Fury himself stood. Rows upon rows of computers and agents scattered the craft, and Grey went to sit herself at the grand consultant table near the entrance, just to people watch. As she was invisible most of the time, Grey made a habit of observing everybody she saw. This made her people reading skills almost perfect.

Hearing the murmur of new voices, Grey quickly vanished, nerves taking over her. She watched from her seat as Natasha led in two men, both of whom she recognised from the files. One, Doctor Bruce Banner, leading scientist whose work Grey had based her dissertation on in University. She watched him carefully, noting how he stayed away from the large groups of agents and the twitch in his jaw. She made a mental note not to scare him by accidently appearing in front of him.

She looked over at the other man. Steve Rogers, Captain America. A massive block of pure muscle. Grey smiled as he saw the awe in his eyes, not so different from hers, as he looked around the space. She could tell he was still stuck in the past, just from his clothes to the way that he held himself. That was interesting to Grey.

“Gentleman.”

Nick Fury walked back into the Bridge, heading towards the two men. Grey observed Steve slip $10 into Fury’s hand as he walked through the aircraft. She furrowed her brow, not liking seeing something she didn’t understand. Fury looked over at her, and she had the uneasy feeling that he could see her through his eye patch.

“Doctor, thank you for coming,” Fury walked over to shake Banner’s hand, who had been stood relatively close to her. Grey noted that Bruce was reluctant to shake, his own hand trembling. “There’s somebody I’d like you to meet.”

Grey rolled her eyes as she slowly appeared in her chair, knowing Fury was only introducing her like this to make an entrance. “Nice to meet you, Doctor.”

Bruce jumped when Grey spoke, his eyes wide as he turned to stare at her. “Uh... You weren’t there a minute ago.”

Grey laughed as she stood up, offering a hand to shake. “I’m Grey. Grey Caron”

Bruce shook Grey’s hand, a small smile on his face. “’Umbra’. I read up about you, in the file. Invisibility, right?” He seemed intrigued, and Grey noted his hand wasn’t shaking as much, and his twitch had calmed down.

“Right.” Grey gave him an encouraging smile. “You’re Doctor Banner, atomic physicist. I studied you when I was in university. I’m- I’m a fan.” She let out a small laugh, as did Bruce.

“I’m honoured.” He said to her, flashing her a rare smile.

“Already charming the ladies, Doctor Banner?”

Steve Rogers was stood behind Grey, a smile on his face as he introduced himself to her with a gentlemanly shake of the hand. Grey could tell he was confused by her, especially as she had teasingly been turning her own hand invisible as she shook his. “Nice to meet you, Captain.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, and it’s Steve. Captain makes me feel old.” He raised his eyebrow at her hand. “That’s something I haven’t seen before.” Grey smiled sheepishly, before disappearing entirely. The only visible thing was the necklace which was hanging from her neck. “Wow.”

A laugh was heard from the spot Grey was, before she reappeared again. “Get used to it, Cap.” She gave him a wink, before she tuned into the conversation which Bruce and Fury were having a couple of paces over.

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you’re in the clear.” Fury was saying. For some reason, Bruce wasn’t convinced.

“And where are you with that?”

Another agent walked to the group, an older man with a kind face. “We’re sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it’s connected to a satellite, it’s eyes and ears for us.”

Grey frowned slightly, mumbling to herself, “That’s not going to be quick enough”, as Natasha spoke up. “That’s still not gonna find them in time.” They glanced over at each other, and Natasha gave Grey a quick, weak smile.

Bruce looked down at Grey, and thought for a minute, taking his glasses and biting into one of the arms. “You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?”

Fury shrugged, “How many are there?”

Grey’s eyes suddenly lit up, before she said quickly, “call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays," she nodded up to Bruce, “According to the reading, Doctor Banner here is the best person to go to for radiation.” Grey gave him a smile, hoping that he wouldn’t take offense at the little tease.

The scientist nodded, a smile on his face. “She’s right. I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we can rule out a few places.” Grey smiled up at him, nodding along, before Bruce said, "do you have somewhere for us to work?”

Grey raised an eyebrow at the ‘Us’, before a twisting feeling started rising in her stomach. She couldn’t say no to working with the Bruce Banner in a state of the art laboratory, but she knew something would go wrong, someone would get hurt. She looked down, her eyes squeezing shut as she tried to calm her breathing. “ _Stay calm. Focus. Don’t touch anything. It’ll be fine.”_

At the final word, Grey opened her eyes and nodded to herself. She would at least try to make an effort. It was the first impression she will make on Doctor Banner.

“Agent Romanoff, would you please show Doctor Banner and Miss Caron to their laboratory?”

Bruce and Grey turned to follow Natasha, and Grey grinned nervously when she mentioned how S.H.I.E.L.D. had ‘all the toys’. She let out another breath, her skin vanishing and reappearing with every step she took. It will be okay. It will be okay. It will be okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm following the script quite a lot but it actually helps to generate ideas! People just give me weird looks when they see it on my laptop.

Grey hadn’t touched anything in the laboratory. She had merely floated in and out of sight as she stood next to Bruce, quietly watching him create his algorithm. Bruce raised an eyebrow as she repapered into view for the twenty seventh time.

“So, are you still a palynologist?” he asked, smiling when Grey finally stopped flickering.

She nodded, smiling from her spot next to him. “Palynologist, anthropologist and stereo chemist.” She felt a swell of pride when she spoke about her achievements, a bubble of joy surrounding her.

“I read up about you, in your file. You’re incredibly smart. I’m surprised you haven’t been running around this laboratory.”

Grey sucked in a breath, biting her lip and shrugging, the flickering returning. “I’m... I’m happy just watching you work. It’s interesting.”

Bruce nodded, looking down at her. A few moments of comfortable silence passed between them, allowing Grey to watch in awe as Bruce flicked up hologram after hologram to use for his work. The facilities on the ship were truly amazing. They dropped into an easy rhythm, Bruce concentrating on his algorithm, Grey flickering like a candle next to him, asking questions about his equations every so often.

After a while, Bruce turned to Grey, pushing his glasses up his nose nervously. “Uh- I had been meaning to ask you – and you don’t have to answer if you didn’t want to – but I wanted to know more about – about the fire that gave you your powers.”

The silence that enveloped them at that moment was more tense than comfortable, and Grey saw Bruce blush with embarrassment. “I’m sorry- it was stupid of me to ask. I get you don’t want to talk about it. I don’t like talking about my accident, either.”

Grey sucked in a breath before shaking her head. “No, it’s okay. My therapist told me it’s good to tell people about what happened... it forces me to come to terms with it.”

“I was working in one of the laboratories, alone. I was investigating the pollen from a new sample of a rare flower we had imported from Fiji. _Medinilla Waterhousei_.” Grey smiled softly at Bruce. “Do you know the legend attached to the flower?” Bruce shook his head, and Grey continued. “It represents the tears of a young girl, forbidden by her father to marry the boy of her dreams. So she cried so much, her tears became the flower.”

“Wow.” Bruce said softly, his eyebrows raised. “I never knew that flowers could be so interesting.”

“You’d be surprised.” Grey let out a small laugh, but it was slightly forced. “I analysed what happened when you burnt the pollen, and it turns out it’s a highly flammable substance, and nobody thought to tell me.”

Grey gulped slightly, and as her heart rate sped up, as did the rate she flickered. Bruce watched her with a concerned look. “If you don’t want to tell me-“

“No. I want too.” Grey tried to steady her breathing, but she knew she couldn’t. “The fire spread unlike any fire should. I-It wouldn’t go out. I tried everything but it wouldn’t stop. It burnt the entire lab. It burnt- it burnt me.”

“But your skin..?”

“The pollen changed my DNA structure. It burnt me so badly that it caused my DNA to bind together, which caused any burns I had to be healed. It also... obviously, rendered me invisible for three months until I could figure out to control myself. The police just assumed my body was burnt so badly that it turned to ash.” Grey didn’t realise she was crying until she felt a tear drop onto her hand, and she finally reappeared fully, looking up at Bruce. “My entire family think I’m dead.”

Bruce just stared helplessly at her, feeling more awkward than he did before, but he also felt dreadful inside after hearing what happened. He stepped towards her to give her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, but Grey wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. A mutual understanding travelled between them, and they both knew that they didn’t need to say anything, and that that was alright.

They both pulled away after a minute, and Grey laughed as she wiped a tear from her eye. “Sorry.”

Bruce frowned and shook his head. “No- don’t be sorry-“

Suddenly Natasha burst through the door. “We have a match. Eighty percent. You’re up, Umbra.” She flashed Grey a wicked smile, before quickly tossing her a pistol. “It’s loaded; you know how to use it?”

Grey scoffed, smirking over at her and following Natasha out the door, waving a quick goodbye to Bruce.

“Of course I do.”

Natasha gave her a wink, before pulling her to the side and clipping an intercom into her ear. “Can you hear this?” Grey heard Natasha’s voice in front of her and crackling in her ear.

“Loud and clear.” She responded with a confident smile. The two women stalked to the boarding area, looking equally deadly in their suits. They boarded on the same Quinjet that brought Grey to the Helicarrier, and she looked around it in disgust. “I didn’t think I’d be getting back in this so soon.”

“Don’t like flying, ma’am?” Steve had followed them onto the jet, looking every inch the righteous hero in his new and improved Captain America uniform (“Coulson helped design it.” Natasha had whispered to her).

“Not the biggest fan, Captain.” Grey gave him a quick smile. “Where are we going this time?”

“Stuttgart, Germany.” Steve secured his shield onto his back, shooting Grey a concerned look. “This guy isn’t even trying to hide. The villains I know don’t work like that.”

Grey raised an eyebrow at him. “This guy sounds like a laugh. Loki, right? That’s what it said in the file.”

Steve gave her an amused smile. “You did the reading?” Grey gave him a confused look, letting out a laugh.

“Why is this a thing? Did no one else do the reading?” she pointed at him, eyebrows raised. “Doctor Banner did.” Steve laughed when she did that, shaking his head.

The rest of the Quinjet ride was quiet, Grey with her nose buried in the file, and Steve looking around the jet in admiration at modern technology. Grey looked up at him, quickly realising that Steve was more than just a man out of time; he was broken inside. He’d left something back in the forties with him, be it a girl, or a friend. Grey felt her own heart break a little for him.

“We’re just over Stuttgart, guys. He looks like he’s making some Hitler-esq speech.” Natasha’s voice sounded over the intercom. Grey looked out of the window, seeing a large crowd of people gathered in front of one golden sparkle. “Cap, Umbra, get out there.”

“Ready to get up close and personal with God himself, Stevie?” Grey smirked as she attached herself to Steve’s back, immediately vanishing.

Steve laughed as he steadied himself at the exit of the jet. “Readier than I’ll ever be.”

However, Grey didn’t hear his reply. She only heard the screaming of the wind as they leapt out of the back of the plane and the thud of Steve’s shield as they landed, right in front of Loki, God of Mischief, who was sending an angry energy beam zooming right at them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The introduction of Tony! I love how Grey and Tony interact! Thank you everybody for the views and kudos!

The crowd immediately scattered as Steve’s shield reflected Loki’s blast back at him, knocking him flat on his back. Grey heard him groan as she skirted around the crowd to position herself behind him, her pistol trained on his back as she kept herself invisible as she waited for Natasha to signal.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing.”

Grey smirked; remembering watching Steve punch Hitler in the face multiple times on the old Captain America tapes her Grandmother had gifted her. She watched carefully as Loki stood up and dusted himself off, a sinful smile on his lips. “The soldier. A man out of time.”

“I’m not the one who’s out of time.” Steve positioned his shield back in front of him as Grey say the quinjet hover above them, and Natasha’s voice sound out.  
“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.”

For a moment, Grey thought he really would surrender, and she lowered her gun slightly. All of a sudden, Loki shot a blast at the quinjet- one which Natasha only just missed as she managed to swerve in time. In a panic, Grey quickly shot a bullet in Loki’s direction, which skimmed the side of his extended hand. He let out a shout, whirling around with his sceptre pointed to shoot at the culprit. Grey held in a breath, focusing every cell in her body to remain invisible. She swore Loki locked eyes with her, but she couldn’t be sure, as Steve barrelled into him, continuing with the fight.

“Umbra- you okay?” Natasha’s voice appeared in her ear, sounding concerned. Grey breathed heavily, a number of questions running through her head. Could he see her? She gulped before answering shakily. “I’m good. I tried to shoot but I missed... by a hair.”

“Don’t shoot now, you may hit Steve-“

Grey frowned when she heard the opening of AC/DC’s ‘Shoot to Thrill’ play over the rest of Natasha’s words, and a horribly familiar male voice overtook her earpiece. “Miss me, Agent Romanoff?” 

Grey let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose and mumbling to herself. “Fucking Stark.” 

A scarlet and gold streak flew through the sky before landing next to where Steve had finally forced Loki down, the Iron Man suit opening up to reveal a number of rockets aimed right at the God’s head. A steely, animatronic voice emerged from it.

“Make your move, Reindeer Games.”

As Loki raised his hands in surrender, he felt the end of a gun press into the back of his head. As Grey reappeared in front of the three men, she raised an eyebrow down at the God kneeling in front of her.

“I’d stay still if I were you, Dasher.”

Tony smirked and let out a laugh. “Good move.”

Grey’s eyes flicked up to Tony when he said that, as her and Steve said simultaneously. “Mr. Stark.” 

“Captain.” Tony nodded to Steve, but he was still facing Grey. His hand lifted up and his mask flicked open, revealing the famous face that Grey had seen so many times on the television. “Umbra.”

All Grey could do was roll her eyes.

\---------------------

The ride back to the Helicarrier was tense. Well, as tense as it could be with a captured God, a super soldier, and an egotistic billionaire on board. Grey sat across from Loki, her eyes narrowed as she kept watch on him. He didn’t look up at her, staying quiet and stationary.

“I don’t like it.” Steve said with a frown on his face. Tony raised his eyebrow and nodded towards Loki, who hadn’t moved.

“What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?” Grey couldn’t help but smirk at the nickname Stark had come up with, but quickly vanished to conceal her smile. She didn’t want Tony to get the impression that she liked him. Grey returned when she composed herself, her face a neutral expression once again.

“I don’t remember it ever being that easy.” Steve continued, “This guy packs a wallop.”

“Steve’s right.” Grey chimed in quietly. “He’s meant to be a God, but he’s done little but shoot at us.”

Tony gestured up and down at Steve, whilst flashing a smirk to Grey. “Well, he is pretty spry, for an older fellow.” He turned to him, mock interest on his face. “What’s your thing? Pilates?”

“What?”

“Leave him alone, Stark.” (He obviously didn’t.)

“It’s like callisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things, you know, doing time as a ‘Capsicle’.”

Grey felt the tension in the air thicken, and she felt the burn of a stare in the back of her head. She glanced back to look at Loki, who’s electric blue eyes were trained on her. Grey chose to ignore him, instead focusing on not being crushed on the two superhero egos having a size contest.

“Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in.” Steve said coldly.

Grey sucked in a breath, before sheepishly mumbling, “It was in the reading.” Tony pointed a finger at her, smiling.

“Shadow did her homework.” He glanced over at where Natasha was sat, talking to Fury on her earpiece. “Besides, there are a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you.”

Grey suddenly jumped as a loud crack of thunder was released above them, unintentionally turning invisible as she felt every nerve ending in her body spark. 

“Where’s this coming from?” Natasha called out, and Grey saw Loki’s eyes flick to the window, an emotion in them she hadn’t seen before - fear.

“Scared of a little lightening?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Loki shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“I’m not overly fond of what follows.”

In an instant, Grey was blinded by a bright light which hit the jet, which sent electrifying shocks through Grey’s fingers, making her flicker like a glitch in a video game. 

“Fuck-” Tony shouted from next to her. Grey looked up in a panic, and saw Tony wincing as a few sparks flew from his reactor on his hand. She tried to not freak out even more, looking back at Loki, whose eyes were focused on the ceiling.

“Guys, I don’t think-!”

With a loud screech, the ramp of the Quinjet was ripped off by an unstoppable force, and a mountain of a man stormed in, saying nothing but grabbing Loki by the throat and flying back out of the jet, leaving Grey, Steve, and Tony dumbstruck on the broken jet. Grey let out a sigh of disbelief.

“Well, shit.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like this chapter everyone, what do you guys think!

“Okay, so we lost the prisoner. What do we do now?” 

Grey started flickering again, a sure sign she was panicking. Tony pointed out the open back of the Quinjet accusingly. “Now there’s that guy.”

“Another Asguardian?” Natasha called out as she tried to stabilise the jet, tugging on the controls and quickly calling for backup.

“Thor, God of Thunder.” Grey called out, clinging onto the side of the plane. She saw Tony open his mouth to make a snarky comment, and she glared at him. “Shut up, I read a lot.”

Steve winced as the jet lurched again, frowning, “that guy’s a friendly?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Tony switched on his mask, sounding firm. “If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract’s lost.” With that, Tony readied himself to fly out of the back of the aircraft.

“Stark, what are you doing?” Grey called out, concern written on her face. “We need a god damn plan of attack, not to just go in there with guns blazing!” Tony looked back at her, and despite the fact his mask was covering his face, Grey knew he was smirking at her.

“I have a plan. Attack.”

And with that, Tony shot out of the back of the jet, a blast of light following him. Grey sighed, groaning and pinching the bridge of her nose. “I really hate that man.”

“I’d sit this one out, guys.” Natasha yelled out. “These guys come from legends, they’re basically Gods.”

“Someone’s gotta keep a gun on Loki if Stark’s going into a fistfight with Literal Jesus.” Grey shouted back, already strapping herself into a parachute. Steve had done the same, and laughed at Grey’s comment.

“There’s only one God ma’am, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” With a nod, Steve gestured to Grey and they both simultaneously jumped in the direction Tony had flown.

“You find Loki. Keep him where we need him and I’ll stop Tony and Thor from incinerating each other.” Steve ordered, his days as an army captain showing through.

Grey gave a salute and nodded as she quickly reloaded her gun. “Yes, sir.”

She vanished, making her way to where she’d seen Thor and Loki land in a crumpled heap. She tried to be as quiet as she could, keeping her gun positioned accurately. Finally, she saw him sitting quietly by a boulder, calmly twiddling his fingers. She frowned – why would he still be here if Thor had gone? Why wouldn’t he run?

Grey silently tiptoed so she was in front of him, her gun trained on his chest. This time, if he tried anything, she wouldn’t miss. She opened her mouth to say something, before-

“I know you’re there.”

Grey stopped, her eyes wide as she stood there in surprise. How could he see her? She watched as Loki smiled, looking up in her direction, but he didn’t meet her eyes. He couldn’t see her- he could only sense her.

“I can see the power inside you, Grey.” He continued, chucking quietly.

Grey let her invisibility melt away, revealing herself to him. “Shut up.”

Loki raised an eyebrow, obviously expecting her to be intrigued at his mystical words. “Shut up?”

“Yes. Shut up.”

He chuckled - a low, menacing sound from the back of his throat. “You’re by far the most interesting of the Avengers.” Grey stayed silent, instead focusing on keeping her gun pointed straight. “Especially with those feelings for the Metal Man brewing inside you.”

“What?” Grey felt her heart speed up, and she scoffed. “Yeah, feelings of dislike. He’s just a thorn in my side whilst I get this job done.”

“You forget, I am the God of lies. I know when I am being told one.” Loki smirked up at her, and Grey scowled at him. “Especially, weak Midguardian tales.”

“Shut. Up.” Grey repeated, moving the gun up to his head. They stayed like that for a moment, before they heard the familiar noise of Tony flying towards them. 

“Reindeer Games try anything?” he asked as he landed, his voice robotic from his helmet.

Grey shook her head, avoiding looking at him. Loki watched them carefully. “No, just take him back. Make sure he’s secure.” 

“Thor’s working on that.” He stepped closer to her, before his helmet slid back. “You okay?” Grey looked up at him, almost seeing real concern in his eyes. “You look a little... shaken."

Grey gulped, lowering her gun. “I’m fine. Let’s just get him on the ship.”

Steve and Thor soon joined them by Loki, Steve mentioning that Natasha had landed the Quinjet not too far from where they were standing. Grey nodded, before rubbing her forehead and wincing as a headache overtook her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a couple of sparks shoot out of the side of Tony’s suit.

“What did that fucking hammer do to me, Shakespeare?”

“If it had done damage, Metal Man, you would not be functioning.” He shrugged, before nodding towards Grey. “Thank you for keeping my brother here, fair maiden. I deeply regret any pain he has caused you.”

“Uh- anytime. You can call me Grey.” She held her hand out for him to shake, smiling a little when he bent to kiss it instead.

“A pleasure to be in your presence. I understand you are also a great warrior, like these two gentleman.”

Grey laughed, biting her lip. “You could say that.”

Tony had been watching the encounter with a raised eyebrow, and before long he felt an annoying tug within him – almost as if he’d wished Thor would stop making Grey smile like she was. He pushed it down, just as he repressed all of his emotions. 

“This is all very nice, but now we need to get back to the plane. You know, maybe get him into a pair of handcuffs.” He gestured for Grey to do that, and she quickly bound his wrists, avoiding the God’s eyes as tugged him up and handing him over to Thor. They all began to walk back to where Natasha had landed, Grey feeling two pairs of eyes on her the entire way.

On the plane back, Grey refused to show herself. She made herself known to be in one corner seats by placing her file on her curled up knees, but was otherwise completely invisible. Thor, standing by Steve, watched as the files pages slowly turned.

“She has a great power inside her that she can’t control.” He murmured to Steve. “I can sense it, and therefore my brother can as well. We must make sure he is kept away from her.”

Steve’s eyes widened as he felt more concerned for his new friend – their bond already seemed to reflect one of a brother and sister. “When you say ‘great power’...”

“One bigger than her vanishing act.” Thor said gravely, before staying quietly again. In the corner of the jet, one of the wires sparked and short cited.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The science bro's are forming their friendship, and Grey's and Tony's relationship is evolving ;)

Grey, Steve, Tony, Natasha, Bruce and Thor were sat on the conference table of the Helicarrier, watching the video footage of Fury interrogating Loki in his hydraulic rig cell. Grey was sat next to Tony, her hands wringing worriedly in her lap as she flickered in and out of focus. Tony was only half paying attention, continuously distracted by the glitchy figure next to him. After another minute of her vibrating, Tony reached over and placed his hand over Grey’s jittering ones, stopping her trembles and bringing her back to full view. She looked up at him, surprise in her eyes.

“Cool it, kid.” He mumbled, giving Grey a soft smile. She looked down at her hands, before pulling away and nodding, quietly whispering a ‘sorry’ as she went back to focus on Fury and Loki. 

“It’s an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me.” Loki had said, wondering around the glass cylinder he was trapped in. 

Fury had nodded, a grave look on his face. “Built for something a lot stronger than you.” 

Back in the briefing room, Grey watched as Bruce stared at the screen intently. Unbeknownst to her, Thor had fixed Grey with the same steely look. Loki and Fury continued to talk on the tape.

“The mindless beast, makes play he’s still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?” Loki hissed from inside the cell.

“How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can’t hope to control. You take one of my best men, and you force me to recruit a girl who just may not be ready to join us yet.” Grey tensed as Fury said that, looking down at her lap as she felt everyone turn to look at her. “You talk about peace and you kill ‘cause its fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did.” Grey felt the familiar warmth of a hand against hers, and despite not opening her eyes, she knew who’s it was.

“Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have a Tesseract - to have power, unlimited power - and for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is.”

Fury chuckled, before smiling at Loki. “Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something.” 

Loki smirked, before saying menacingly, “You brought the real power, in the form of a young woman.” 

The monitor the group were watching on went black as Fury left the room, and they all stand there in stunned silence, even Grey was shocked enough to stop shivering. What did he mean, real power? That’s the second time he had mentioned it. She felt cold, clammy and her chest was tight. Grey gripped the hand which was on hers tightly to calm herself down, and Tony frowned, scooting his chair over slightly so he was closer to her.

Bruce cleared his throat, before looking up at the group and smiling weakly at everyone. “He really grows on you, doesn’t he?”

Steve rubbed his hand over his jaw, thinking. “Loki’s gonna drag this out.” He looked up at Thor, who had joined the group from where he had been standing sullenly. “So, Thor, what’s his play?”

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They’re not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

Grey spoke up, straightening a little as she joined the conversation. “They’re a race of shape shifting aliens. They claim to be part of the ‘immune system’ of the universe – they want to wipe out disorder and free will wherever they find it.”

Thor looked over at her with raised eyebrows, a surprised expression on his face. “How do you know this? The Chitauri aren’t of Midguardian knowledge.”

Grey kept her eyes on her lap in embarrassment, her face flushing as she realised Tony’s hand was still in hers. “I-I just read a lot.” She mumbled.

Steve’s face was a mix of awe, confusion and seriousness. “An army? From outer space?” Grey nodded, shooting him a small smile. “I know, it’s a lot to get your head around.”

“So he’s building another portal,” Bruce spoke, scratching his chin in thought. “That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.”

“Selvig?” Thor looked up, a spark of recognition on his face as he heard the name.

“He’s an astrophysicist. I’ve worked with him before on some studies.” Grey offered.

“He’s a friend.” Thor said gravely, obviously upset at the treatment of his companion.

Things were silent for a minute, and Grey unhooked her hands from Tony’s, whispering quietly to him. “I’m okay now. Thanks.” Tony nodded at her, still looking slightly concerned, as he retracted his hand.

“Loki has Selvig under some kind of control.” Natasha explained. “Along with one of ours.” Grey knew she was talking about Clint, whom she’d seen on one of the computers earlier before.

“Steve looked around at the table. “I wanna know why Loki let us take him. You saw it, Grey, he barely put up a fight. He’s not leading an army from here.”

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki.” Bruce laughed slightly, shaking his head. “That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him”

Thor glared over at Bruce, and pointed an accusing finger at him. “Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he’s my brother.”

“He’s killed eighty people in two days.” Natasha said.

Thor’s demeanour changed to uncomfortable as he muttered, “he’s adopted.”

Grey smiled a little at the quip Natasha had used, but it was slightly forced. In truth, she felt sick and nervous. She knew he didn’t belong here, but now she was stuck. She should’ve stayed in London, where it was safe and secluded. Here, she was as open as an exposed wire, ready to spark.

Bruce tactfully changed the subject. “Iridium. What does he need iridium for?”

“It’s a stabilizing agent.” Tony leant back in his chair, looking around at the group. He’d been quiet during the conversation, more focused on how he could literally feel the anxiety radiating from Grey, but after he saw her smile, he relaxed again. “Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants.”

Tony stood up, and Grey watched him with raised eyebrow, a fond smirk on her face. She observed as Tony walked up to where Fury normally stood and directed the ship from. He called out a man playing Galaga nearby, before covering one eye and looking confused. “How does Fury do this?”

“He turns.” Grey quipped, smirking over at him. Tony winked over at her, before she saw him place something under Fury’s desk. She frowned slightly, but Tony gave her a slight shake of his head. Grey looked back down at her lap, muddled at what Tony was doing.

Tony continued on his now-lecture on physics. “The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick starts the cube.”

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Agent Maria Hill, whom Grey had met when coming of the ship after capturing Loki, asked with an unimpressed expression.

Grey knew the answer to this question. “Last night I assume. The packet, Selvig’s notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Stark and I are apparently the only ones who did the reading.”

“Shadow’s right. Doesn’t take much to become a genius.” Tony paused, then smirked. “Even though I already am one. Looks like Shadow is too.”

“That’s not her codename, Stark.” Natasha said from her seat, raising an eyebrow. “You really should be using the right one.”

He rolled his eyes as Steve continued to conversation. “Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?”

Bruce thought for a second, before frowning. “He’s got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.” Grey looked up and frowned, before she shifted out of her seat to go and stand next to him.

“Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnelling effect.” Tony replied, moving to them both.

“If he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet.” Grey contributed, and she felt a twist in her stomach when Tony gave her a surprised look, his lips immediately curving upwards into a wide smile. She blushed in embarrassment and looked down.

“Finally, people who speak English.” He said softly, his fingers brushing the side of Grey’s arm. Grey felt short sparks, and she momentarily disappeared in excitement. She heard Stark whisper ‘cute’, before he dropped his hand.

“Is that what just happened?” Steve asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Grey watched as Tony and Bruce shook hands, and she saw the glimmer in each of their eyes as the mutual respect they shared showed.

“It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner.” Tony said sincerely. “Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled... and I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

Grey snickered as Bruce blushed and mumbled a quiet, “thanks.”

“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube, Umbra is assisting him. I was hoping you might join him.” Fury, who had appeared silently, announced. 

Tony looked down at Grey with a small smirk. “I’d be happy too.”

Steve cleared his throat, trying to diffuse the tension in the room. “Let’s start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.” 

“I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the cube.” Fury mentioned, “and I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

Thor looked up, confused. “Monkeys? I do not understand.”

It was silent for a moment before Steve burst out, a large smile on his face. “I do! I understood that reference.”

Tony rolled his eyes, before he looked down at Grey and saw she was smiling fondly. He frowned when he saw that, a feeling of jealousy rising up in him. He coughed slightly, before he looped a protective arm around Grey’s shoulders, plastering a fake cocky smile on his face. 

“Shall we play, Doctor? Shadow?”

“Let’s play some.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I looooove this chapter! and theyre slowly getting longer! go me ayyeee

Grey watched Tony out of the corner of her eye as she sat at one of the desks in the laboratory, scratching out equations on her pad of paper. Sure, S.H.I.E.L.D. had all the tech you could possibly need, but Grey still preferred to use the traditional methods. Her and the other two Scientists were meant to be investigating Loki’s weapon, but Tony seemed content with being annoying, and Grey was fine with invisibly spying on him. She didn’t like him, she kept thinking to herself. He was just intriguing to her - he wasn’t as bad as the press made him out to be.

“You know what, Shadow?” Tony said, swiping away his algorithms from one of his screens, “its fun watching your pen move by itself, but it would be nice to see your face once in a while.” He smirked as Grey immediately reappeared, rolling her eyes. 

“Maybe I didn’t want you to see me, Stark.”

“You didn’t mind it back in that conference room.” He sent her a wink, and she scoffed.

“Fuck off.”

Bruce interrupted them with an awkward cough. “Sorry to interrupt... but the gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig’s reports on the Tesseract. But it’s gonna take weeks to process.”

“If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops.” Tony said, twirling an electric rod in his hands. Bruce smiled worriedly.

“All I packed was a tooth brush.”

Grey gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Doctor, I don’t even know what I packed. Fury only told me I was coming the night before.”

Tony was watching them both with a grin. “You know, you two should come by STARK Towers sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You’d love it, its candy land.”

“What, that eyesore in New York?” Grey laughed slightly, biting her lip. Tony scowled at her and repeated her sentence in a mock British accent. Bruce let out a chuckle as well.

“Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke...Harlem.” 

“Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises.” Tony promised.

Grey rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Sure.”

Suddenly, Tony poked Bruce with the prod he had been fiddling with, sending an electric shock through him. Bruce let out a yelp of pain, and Tony watched him closely, curious. 

“Nothing? What about you, Shadow?” He turned and threateningly pointed the electric stick at her. 

“You come near that thing and I’ll put you in a choke hold.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Hey! Are you nuts?” Steve had walked in, and his expression was unimpressed.

“You really have got a lid on it, haven’t you?” Tony said in disbelief. “What’s your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?”

Grey choked on the drink of water she had just swallowed.

Steve sighed angrily. “Is everything a joke to you?”

“Funny things are.” Tony replied breezily, shrugging as he moved to prick Grey with the rod. Grey rolled her eyes slightly, moving to snatch the electric prong out of his hands and quickly snap it. Tony jumped as she did it, his eyes widening. “Those things are $500 each.” 

“I’m sure they have insurance.” Grey said coolly, smiling before sitting back down.

Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny.” He seemed to realise what he said before looking up at Bruce apologetically. “No offense, Doctor.”

“No, it’s alright.” Bruce said, “I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things.”

Tony smacked him brotherly on the back. “You’re tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut.”

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark.” Grey said quietly, and she smiled when she heard Tony gasp indigently. 

“You think I’m not?” 

Steve shot him a raised eyebrow as he crossed his arms, and Tony continued to plead his case.

“Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equations unless I have all the variables.” He shrugged. Grey frowned immediately, looking over at Tony in confusion. What did he mean Fury was hiding something? Steve voiced her very question. “He’s a spy, Captain. He’s THE spy. His secrets have secrets.” He gestured to Grey and Bruce. “It’s bugging them too, isn’t it?”

Grey immediately vanished, and Bruce stumbled over his words as he scratched the back of his head. “Uh... I just wanna finish my work here and...”

“Doctor? Grey?” Steve asked, looking defeated. A beat passed before Bruce sighed, taking of his glasses. 

“’A warm light for all mankind’ – Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube.” 

“I heard it.”

Bruce pointed to Tony. “Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn’t post that all over the news.”

“The Stark Tower? That big, ugly-" Steve stopped when Tony glared at him, “...building in New York.”

“That’s what I said.” Grey’s voice came from where she had been sitting, which was now an empty space. “Sorry, Stark. It’s the truth.”

“Well, you’re never coming for a sleepover.” Tony mumbled, sulking.

Bruce raised an eyebrow at Tony, before continuing. “It’s powered by Stark Reactors, self sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?”

Tony smirked slightly, his ego returning to him as he shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s just the prototype. I’m kind of the only name in clean energy right now.” He heard a scoff from Grey’s seat, and he could picture her rolling her eyes. 

“So why did S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?”

“I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secure files.” Tony said innocently, popping a blueberry into his mouth from the bag he had picked up. He also threw one in Grey’s direction, smiling when she popped back into sight with a scowl.

Steve had a confused, taken aback expression on his face, and struggled for words. “I... I’m sorry, did you say...?”

“JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge.” Tony explained, looking extremely happy from himself. “In a few hours we’ll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide.” He held out his blueberry bag with a smile. “Blueberry?”

Steve scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yet you’re confused about why they didn’t want you around?”

Tony shrugged, “an intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible.”

Grey had been watching the conversation from the side, before she stood up and leaned against one of the desks nearer to the two boys. Just like in the quinjet, she could feel the tension in the air. She looked back at Bruce, who raised an eyebrow and shook his head. She looked back at the boys, before biting her lip. She remembered what Loki had said about the ‘power inside her’, and shivered slightly before she spoke. “I think Loki’s just trying to wind us up. We should stop taking everything he says so seriously.”

“This is a man who means to start a war,” Steve said incredulously, looking between her and Tony. “You two have been in here, what, messing around with electric rods and blueberries? If we don’t stay focused, he’ll succeed.”

Grey could feel the wave of protection which rolled of Tony as he pointed a finger at Steve, the smirk wiped of his face. “You don’t talk to her like that.”

Steve sighed slightly, before facing Grey. “Grey, I’m sorry. We just have orders, we should follow them.”

“It’s okay,” Grey said quietly, “you’re right. We do have orders. We’re here for one job.”

“Following is not really my style.” Tony said, popping another blueberry into his mouth. Steve sighed, a tight smile on his lips.

“And you’re all about style, aren’t you?”

Tony’s mouth was set into a hard line, as an evident nerve was hit by Steve’s comment. “Of the people in this room, which one is; a, wearing a spangly outfit, and b, not of use?”

“Don't act like a child, Stark.” Grey said, her eyes rolling, and Tony looked a little put out.

Bruce sighed from the back, and he said seriously, “Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?”

Grey watched as Steve broke down a little, his eyes becoming confused. She knew he was torn by the possibility of S.H.I.E.L.D. not being the good people he thought they were. But she knew, as an obedient soldier, he’d ignore it.

Steve took a breath, before his eyes hardened again. “Just find the cube.” He turned, and walked out of the lab. Tony smirked, before he threw another blueberry in Grey’s direction.

She glared at him, and followed Steve out of the lab.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been writing a lot the last few days and the most recent chapter I've written (Chapter 10) is so long! Let me know if you guys prefer the longer or shorter chapters :)

Tony watched as Grey left, swallowing slightly. Bruce, watched his reaction, before raising an eyebrow. “You know, maybe you should stop throwing blueberries at her.” Tony shot him a look before he headed back to his desk to continue scratching out algorithms and equations, trying to not think about Grey and Steve together. 

“That’s the guy my dad never shut up about?” He mumbled grouchily. “Wondering if they shouldn’t have kept him on ice.”

“The guy’s not wrong about Loki - he does have the jump on us. Besides,” Bruce peeked over his glasses at Tony to judge his reaction. “Grey likes him. I can tell.”

Bruce saw Tony’s fist clench, and the roll of his shoulders as he tried to calm down. Despite only knowing him for a couple of hours, Bruce could already read him like a book. 

Clearing his throat, Tony ignored Bruce’s comment. “What he’s got is an ACME dynamite kit.” Continuing to swipe over algorithms on the screens, Tony had a determined expression etched on his face. “It’s gonna blow up in his face, and I’m gonna be there when it does.”

Bruce smiled slightly, looking back down at his work. “And I’ll read all about it.”

“Uh huh.” Tony glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow, “or you’ll be suiting up like the rest of us.” The other man shook his head, sighing slightly and taking off his glasses, rubbing his eyes slightly.

“Ah, see. I don’t get a suit of armour. I’m exposed, like a nerve. It’s a nightmare.”

Tony moved to stand next to him, fixing Bruce with an understanding air about them. “You know, I’ve got a cluster of shrapnel, trying ever second to crawl its way into my heart.” He pointed to the mini arc reactor which sat snugly in his chest. “This stops it. This little circle of light. It’s part of me now, not just armour. It’s a... terrible privilege.”

“But you can control it.”

“Because I learned how.”

“It’s different.” 

Bruce shifted uncomfortably as he tried to focus back onto the computer screen, but Tony slid the data aside with one finger as he stared Bruce in the face. “Hey, I’ve read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you.”

“So, you’re saying that the Hulk – the other guy – saved my life?” He let out a dry chuckle as he shook his head. “That’s nice. It’s a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?”

“I guess we’ll find out.” Tony said in a beat, his cheeky smile returning as they both turned to work on their computers. 

“You might not like that.”

“You just might.” Even though his smile was plastered on his face, inside Tony felt rotten, his mind captivated by the idea of Grey and Steve together.

\---------------------------

As Steve stealthily crept through the hull hanger towards the secure storage rooms, Grey padded silently behind him. She’d been invisible since she’d started following him, worried he would snap at her again, but she wanted to know what S.H.I.E.L.D. had been hiding from them all. Grey knew Tony was right, as annoying as it was.

Steve slid the heavy iron door leading to storage 10-C open, grunting quietly when it budged. Grey followed him in, her eyes widening as she took in the large warehouse. Metal crates were stacked up around the space, each labelled with types of weaponry. Grey gulped, dread sinking into her bones as she knew this was going to blow up the team. She watched as Steve leapt up onto the catwalk railing above them.

“Psst. Steve!” 

He looked back down at the floor, frowning when he couldn’t see anything. “Grey?” 

“Bend down, hold out your arm and pull me up.”

Steve did as she asked, a strange feeling coming over him as he pulled up seemingly nothing. As he tugged Grey up, she let her invisibility fall and she gave Steve a sheepish smile. “You’re pretty strong.”

He raised his eyebrows as he placed her on the railing. “Why were you following me?” he hissed.

“I wanted to find out what Fury was hiding.” Grey frowned, staring defiantly up at him. “I’m part of this team too, Rogers, and you can’t stop me from figuring this shit out as well. I just needed you to open that door.” She pointed her finger at the one Steve had shifted out the way.

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing deeply before he nodded. “Fine. Come on then.” They both continued to walk down the railing quietly, surrounded by box after box of weaponry. They walked past one box which had a label, one which Grey recognised.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, stopping in her tracks. She immediately went to it, rubbing the label as if the words would change with a scrub of her fingers. 

“What?” Steve stopped, rounding back to look at it. “What’s ‘Medinilla Waterhousei’? Why is it here?”

Grey gulped, anger already growing inside of her, and she shook her head. “I’ll tell you later.” She said in a clipped tone.

Steve looked at her worriedly, before they continued to search for the weaponry Steve was trying to find. “I suspect S.H.I.E.L.D. have been recreating Hydra guns,” he said as they walked. “They’re using the Tesseract to power them.”

“It’s awful.” Grey sighed. “I thought this organisation was better than this.”

“Me too, kid.”

They continued walking, the only sound coming from the light thud of their footsteps against the metal cat walk. Before long, Grey thought she heard a third pair. She frowned, pausing to listen hard.

“What now-?” Steve turned with a raised eyebrow, but Grey hurriedly pressed her finger to her lips, silently telling him to be quiet. She knew there was someone else in there with them. In a state of panic, she quickly tugged Steve to crouch behind a pile of boxes nearby them, and she whispered to him. 

“There's someone else in here with us. You stay here.” She hissed, and Steve frowned. "I'll take care of them."

“You’re not doing that alone!”

“Whoever it is, I’m pretty sure they’ll see you. You’re not hard to miss, especially not in that outfit.” 

That shut Steve up, and Grey smirked slightly before vanishing and creeping out from behind their hiding place. Slinking down the walkway, Grey kept her ears pricked, and she knew whoever it was in there was close to them. She tensed up, breathing out slightly as she readied herself for whatever was rounding the corner in front of her.

An agent appeared in front of her, talking into his earpiece and holding a few files in his arms. “Jim’s in that meeting with the Director. I know. Fury’s tracking everyone’s internet history after Stark called him out for playing Galaga. Stupid, I get it...” He walked closer to her, unaware of the jittering girl in front of him.

Grey panicked, every cell in her body fizzing as she tried to figure out how to stop him from walking any further and figuring out that Steve was snooping. In her frazzled state, she did the first thing that came into her head.

She punched the agent in the face.

The punch landed with a smack, and the agent fell to the floor with a clatter, evidently unconscious. Grey heard a voice coming from his ear piece. “Andy, Andy! Are you there?” She squeaked, turning visible, and quickly switched it off. Having heard the crash, Steve had come running to join her.

“What have you done?” He asked, a disbelieving look on his face as he shook his head, taking in the sight of Grey kneeling over the body of an agent. She looked up at him, and rolled her eyes.

“He’s not dead, Steve. Fucks sake, I’m not that incompetent.” She paused slightly. “I just freaked out and knocked him unconscious.”

“Oh.” Steve said weakly, rubbing his head.

“Come on, we don’t have a lot of time. He was talking to someone - they’re bound to come look for him soon.” Together, they moved the agent so he was sitting upright against the rail, and quickly continued with their search. Grey felt the buzz of addreneline linger in her fingers, and she rolled the muscles in her neck. She ignored the sounds of electricity crackling as she did it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter. I hope you guys do too! It's a big scene so I know it's a weird way to stop, but I didn't want it to get too long.

Crackling to life inside her ear, Grey heard Natasha’s voice, sounding slightly shaken yet still firm. “Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I’m on my way. All Avengers, head to the labs.” 

Grey felt her body go cold, and she glanced up at Steve. He hadn’t said a word since they’d found the H.Y.D.R.A. weapons in one of the cases, and Grey gulped slightly. Being in the company of an angry super soldier was not one of her favourite things. 

“Steve, did you...?”

“I heard.”

She nodded, looking down at her feet. “I’m sorry I followed you.”

“Mhm.”

“And I’m sorry I knocked out that agent.”

Steve smiled slightly, and Grey felt some of her dread lift when she sneaked a peek back up at him. The quiet which surrounded them this time was comfortable. They returned back to the door of the laboratory, and they could hear the raised voices coming from inside.

“Let’s listen and make an entrance.” Grey said, shooting a smirk up at Steve. He nodded.

“You’re supposed to be locating the Tesseract.” The two heard Fury’s distinctive voice from inside the room.

“We are. The model’s locked and we’re sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we’ll have the location within half a mile.” ‘Not bad’, Grey thought, as she listened to Bruce.

“And you’ll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss.” Tony said, and a pause followed him “What is PHASE 2?”

“Now!” Grey whispered. Steve opened the door suddenly, his presence shocking the group of people in the room. "PHASE 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the cube to make weapons." He loudly dropped the H.Y.D.R.A. assault rifle he’d been holding onto the table, causing Fury, Bruce and Tony to stare at it. Grey moved to stand next to Steve, her arms crossed and a furious look on her face.

“Computer was running a little slow for us.” She said.

They were both pissed off.

“We gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we’re...” Fury tried to explain himself, but Grey knew he was lying. She could see it in his eye. Once again, she started to flicker.

“I’m sorry Nick,” she watched as Tony moved his computer screen to show plans of the numerous weapons which were going to be made in PHASE 2. “What were you lying?”

“I was wrong, Director.” Steve said coldly. “The world hasn’t changed a bit.”

Suddenly, the doors to the lab opened and Natasha and Thor walked in. Grey saw Thor’s eyes shoot to her, and Natasha’s stayed on Bruce. 

“Did you know about this?” He asked, obviously irritated. Grey felt uneasy.

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?” Natasha asked, remaining calm. Thor slowly inched towards Grey. 

Bruce looked at her incredulously. “I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.”

“You should also retreat, Lady Grey. You are getting angry.” He said, his eyes showing concern. Grey took a step back, shaking her head.

“You don’t come near me.” She saw Steve move slightly in front of her, his body separating her and Thor.

Natasha looked back at her, and frowned. “Loki is manipulating both of you.”

“And you’ve been doing what exactly?” 

“You didn’t come here because I bat my eyelashes at you.” Natasha shot back, glaring at Bruce. Grey pushed past Steve, her anger rising. “And he’s not leaving just because suddenly you get a little twitchy.

Bruce nodded, and his tone increased in volume. “I’d like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.”

Fury stared angrily at everyone, before pointing his finger at Thor. “Because of him.”

Thor stared at him, obviously stunned. Grey could feel the air growing tense, and she quickly moved her way to Tony, looking up at him with worried eyes. “Me?” Thor asked in surprise. Tony stared back down at her, and moved to take her hand in his. He could tell she was scared, and angry.

“Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levelled a small town.” Fury explained. Grey remembered watching the news from her apartment from London, cowering behind her cushions as the reporter described the robot which had appeared from outer space. “We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.”

At that moment, Grey’s home felt small and far away. 

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet.”

“Your brother is attempting to take over the world.” Grey mentioned, not believing Thor’s word for one second. 

“And you’re not the only people out there, are you?” Fury continued. “You’re not the only threat. The world’s filling up with people who can’t be matched, they can’t be controlled. People like Grey.”

“What?” Grey’s eyes snapped up to stare at Fury in horror. “You’re not serious, are you? I didn’t ask to come here, you came and recruited me!” She felt Tony squeeze her hand.

“You’re attempting to control Grey like you controlled the cube?” Steve asked accusingly.

Thor stood tall, and his words turned stern. “Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war.”

“A higher form?”

“You forced our hand. We had to come up with something.”

“Nuclear deterrent.” Tony chimed in “’Cause that always calms everything right down.” He glanced down at Grey with a shrug and a smirk. She elbowed him. 

Fury turned to him, scowling. “Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?”

At that comment, Grey started glinting as she popped in and out of vision. One of the screens nearby shut itself of. Thor looked at it, and then fixed his line of sight on Grey. She saw him staring, and shrunk away slightly.

“I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-”

Tony pushed himself of the table he was leaning on indignantly. “Wait, wait, hold on! How is this now about me?”

“I thought humans were more evolved than this.” Thor said uneasily, and Grey fixed him with a glare. 

“Doesn’t seem like Asguardians are either,” she bit back, “did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?”

“Do you always give your champions such mistrust?”

“Are you all really that naive?” Natasha fixed Grey and Thor with a stare. “S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats.” Bruce scoffed.

“Captain America’s on potential threat watch? Grey is?”

“We all are.” Natasha continued. At that point, Grey spaced out, briefly hearing Tony and Steve arguing again. The sceptre was glowing brightly and it seemed that she was the only one who noticed. The blue from the gem seemed to be calling to her, tugging her in. She felt herself pulled to it, but she felt Tony’s hand tighten on hers. She shook herself out of the trance, coming back to the conversation at hand.

“You need to step away.” Fury had said dangerously to Banner, his one eye furious. Tony had moved from Grey’s side to Steve’s, and he friendlily put his hand on his shoulder. “Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?”

Steve pushed Tony off him, his expression exasperated. “You know damn well why, back off!” Tony raised his eyebrows, before he moved to come face to face with Steve.

“Oh, I’m starting to want you to make me.”

“Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?”

Tony shrugged, “Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.” Grey shook her head, sighing in annoyance when he said that.

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you.” Steve growled, “Yeah, I’ve seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.”

“I think I would just cut the wire.” Tony said nonchalantly.

Steve smiled, shaking his head. “Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.”

Grey saw the fury flash in Tony’s eyes, and she rushed to tug on his hand, shaking her head again. “Tony, don’t-"

He ignored her. “A hero? Like you? You’re a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!” He spat, glaring up at him.

Steve stood tall, evidently trying to intimidate Tony as he stared down at him. “Put on the suit, let’s go a few rounds.” Thor laughed from the side.

“You people are so pretty... and tiny.” Tony moved away from Steve. Grey hesitantly looked back over at Bruce, and sensed the fear and sadness rolling from him. She had an uneasy feeling.

“Agent Romanoff, would you escort Doctor Banner back to his-"

“Where?” Bruce cut in, “You rented my room!”

“The cell was just in case-" Fury was once again cut off by Bruce, who was quickly getting angrier by the second.

“In case you needed to kill me, but you can’t. I know, I’ve tried!”

The entire team went silent, and Grey felt her heart crumble for the man in front of her.

Bruce visibly swallowed, before looking down, obviously in pain at telling this. “I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the Other Guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good.” He shakily sighed as he looked back up at the team, anger flashing in his eyes. “Until you dragged me back into this freak show, and put everyone here at risk!” 

Grey looked on in terror as she saw Bruce’s hand close around the sceptre. In her fear, she didn’t notice the computers around her spark and shut down. Fury noticed this, and he frowned in worry.

“You wanna know my secret Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?” Grey saw Fury and Natasha grab their guns, and her own hand circled hers. She was about to pull it out, but a hand on hers stopped her, and she looked up to find Tony watching her with a hard expression. 

“Doctor Banner... put down the sceptre.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EXTRA LOOOONG CHAPTER! Sorry for the wait everyone- and I'm on holiday this weekend so I will be writing, but I wont be updating! Chapter 12 will be up by the end of next week though! Love you guys and thanks for reading :D

“Doctor Banner... put down the sceptre.” 

Bruce looked down, his expression shocked as he realised he has the sceptre grasped tightly in his hand. He looked back up, finally realising that Natasha, Fury and Grey all had their own hands on their guns. He slowly put it back down, and Grey saw everyone else visibly relax, but not her.

The one computer which had survived the previous blackout suddenly sparked into life, sending out a sharp alert. Tony moved from Grey’s side to the computer, his eyes lighting up. “Got it.”

“Sorry kids,” Bruce mumbled as he looked over Tony’s shoulder at the screen. “You don’t get to see my little party trick after all.”

“You’ve located the Tesseract?” Grey asked, her body tingling in anticipation. 

Tony nodded, a determined look on his face. “I can get there fastest.”

“Look all of us-” Steve started, but Thor interrupted him. “The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it.”

Grey watched as Tony scoffed and turned to leave, but Steve stepped in front of him to stop him. “You’re not going alone!”

“You gonna stop me?” Tony raised his eyebrows.

Steve moved closer to Tony, sizing him up. “Put on the suit, let’s find out.” Grey moved to them, shaking her head. 

“I’m not afraid to hit an old man.” Tony quipped. Steve looked furious.

“Put on the suit.”

Grey wedged herself between the two men, pushing them apart with her hands. As he felt her hand on his chest, Tony squirmed as an electric shock travelled through his arc reactor. He gasped slightly when he did it, his hand moving to clasp onto hers. Grey didn’t notice, instead focused on staring down Steve, who was still bristly. “Stop it. Now. We have bigger problems to worry about.”

“You keep defending him.” Steve growled, looking back at Tony.

“Because you keep attacking him.” Grey shot back fiercely. Tony and Steve both started arguing once again, before Bruce abruptly said in fear. 

“Oh my God!”

Suddenly an explosion wracked the Helicarrier, a deafening reverberation following it. The team were thrown in every direction. Natasha and Bruce were both launched out of the room into a low hanging storage unit, out of sight. Grey was slammed against one of the desks, a pained groan escaping her lips. Tony winced as he scrambled up, looking around for her. “Grey!” As he watched, she flickered in and out of vision before disappearing completely. Steve clapped him on the shoulder, demanding his attention. 

“Put on the suit!” 

Tony was dazed, and he looked back at where Grey had been laying, before nodding absentmindedly. “Yeah.” Steve helped him up, before they both rushed out of the lab. Grey coughed from her spot, and she faintly came back into view. 

“Lady Grey!” Thor, who had been thrown back into one of the walls, quickly moved over to Grey. A drop of blood fell from her nose, which she wiped away defiantly with her hand. 

“I’m okay.” She let Thor help her up, but at the touch of his hand, Grey felt a shockwave of electricity travel through her body. With a yelp, she pulled herself away, holding her hand to her chest in panic. Thor stared at her with a grave expression, before he pulled her to him again.

“We do not speak of this now - we wait until after the battle.” He let her go again, before he looked back at Fury and spoke to him. “Lady Grey and I will go and ensure Loki is secure.” Fury waved them off as he yelled orders down his earpiece. 

Grey and Thor stormed their way down the corridors of the Helicarrier, Grey with her gun cocked and Thor with Mjolnir in his grasp. Grey had vanished completely from sight, the flickering finally stopping. The only way Thor knew she was next to him was the feeling of electrical sparks surrounding them as they walked.

“What’s the plan?” Grey muttered, glancing up at the God who was alongside her. 

“Keep Loki in his prison. Guard him from the intruders.” Thor looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “You, Lady Grey, will remain invisible, and keep yourself away from my brother. Do not exchange blows with him.” 

Grey frowned, and opened her mouth to shoot an argument back, but at that moment several mask clad men rounded the corner, each with bright blue eyes. Grey frowned, noting that they were exactly like Loki’s.

In the second that both parties paused, Grey hurriedly whispered to Thor, “they can’t see me. You go to Loki, I’ll meet you there.” She watched as Thor nodded, before charging his way through the group of invaders. They all jumped back, startled by the launching God coming for them, and Grey took that opportunity to attack.

The men looked on in confusion as one of them went down, a large boot mark appearing on his face as his nose broke and blood spewed everywhere They all scattered, scared sounds falling from their mouths as they held their guns up; they didn’t shoot – they couldn’t see the threat. All they could do was yell in panic as the second one of them was shot through the head.

Grey thrust her foot between the legs of one of the agents, smirking at the resulting groan, before she roundhouse kicked him in the chest, barrelling him into the man behind him who smashed back into the wall. They were both knocked unconscious, leaving just three men. One of the three started firing his gun randomly, and Grey rolled her eyes.

“Prick.” She muttered as she disarmed him and shot him with his own gun. As she turned on the final two, she furrowed her brow as she saw them staring at her with wide eyes. Grey looked down, realising that they could see the floating gun. She gulped, before shrugging and revealing herself. The two men jumped, their eyes wide.

Grey shot them a smile. “Hello boys.” They immediately pounced, but Grey smashed the end of the gun in one’s face, and whirled round to elbow the other in the cheekbone. The crack of bone beneath her arm let Grey know that she had broken his cheek, and she dropped the ruined gun and took out her own, letting of two short rounds to ensure they were both dead.

Wiping her nose again, Grey looked down at her hand and raised her eyebrows at the blood. She was splattered with it, and she pouted as she looked down at her suit. “I hope I can wash this.” She kicked one of the bodies out of her way before she continued her way to the room Loki was kept in, disappearing as she went.

Halfway to the cell, a deafening roar travelled through the Helicarrier, and Grey felt her stomach twist as she realised who that sound belonged to. Bruce had snapped, she thought, and she looked up to see each of the lights above her lights flicker. 

Grey thought back to the words Thor spoke to her: “We do not speak of this now.” She shivered, and continued on her way, ignoring the sparks falling on her.

Grey crept to the side of the door leading to the cell and frowned when she heard an unfamiliar voice. As she peeked round the door, she realised it was the man from the bridge, the older agent Coulson. Continuing to survey the room, she gasped when she saw Thor trapped in the cage, and Loki standing free. Grey moved to run in, but Thor fixed his eyes on her, and she saw him slightly shake his head. 

“Even I don’t know what it does.” Couslon said, talking about the large weapon in his hand. “Do you wanna find out?”

Suddenly, a second Loki materialised behind Couslon. The mirage faded, and Loki thrust his sceptre through Coulson’s back, piercing his heart. Grey gasped as Thor screamed, and she covered her mouth with her bloody hand to silence the noise. She quietly sobbed as she watched Loki send Thor falling out of the ship, but she remained where she hid.

“You’re gonna lose.” She heard Coulson say, his voice weak.

Loki turned, and Grey shivered as he spoke. “Am I?”

“It’s in your nature.”

“Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky.... where is my disadvantage?” he offered, a soft smirk on his face.

“You lack conviction.” 

Loki turned, opening his mouth to retort. “I don’t think I-“ before he could finish, Coulson had shot him with the weapon still in his hand, and Grey watched as Loki blew through the wall behind them.

“So that’s what it does.”

As soon as the room was safe, Grey scrambled over to Coulson, revealing herself. She pressed her hands on the bleeding wound on his chest, mumbling in shock. “It’s okay, I can help. You’re gonna be fine-”

Coulson put his own hand around hers, stopping her from trying to help him, and coughed slightly. Grey felt tears slip as she saw more blood pour around her fingers. 

“Umbra... Grey...” Coulson said, looking up at her. “Stop.” 

She shook her head, wiping her eyes with her bloody hands. She could’ve stopped this, if she would’ve moved. She was weak, stupid, not ready for this. Not ready for a war.

Grey didn’t realise she was frantic until Fury ran in, falling to his knees next to Coulson himself. She watched as he took his last breath, and she felt him falter under her hands

“Grey, stand down.” Fury ordered, but she ignored him, still trying to fix the agent in front of her. She wouldn’t – couldn’t, move. 

Only when a familiar pair of metal hands circled her waist did she allow herself to be pulled away, still a bloody mess. Her eyes didn’t leave the body in front of her, and the image ingrained itself into her mind.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing quicker than I expected! Hope you guys enjoy! I'm trying to add in more Grey x Tony moments for everyone who likes their interactions :)

The three heroes around the conference tables were silent. Each had the same look of numb shock on their devastated faces. Steve was staring at the same spot on the table, his expression unreadable. During the fight, he had only taken a few punches to the body, but a short stab to the side had caused blood to cover most of his suit. His face was dirty, and the light which twinkled within his eyes was dull. 

Next to him, Tony was the same. He was out of his suit, back in his regular shirt and jeans. Cuts and bruises littered his arms from the blades of the engine, and a large black eye graced his face. His eyes, like Steve’s, were sad; but they were instead trained on the small girl next to him. Tony remembered the moment he had pulled her away from Coulson’s dead body, covered in blood and screaming. He remembered the way she had tried to claw away from him, before collapsing, exhausted, in his arms.

Now, Tony’s hand was in Grey’s as she sat as close to him as possible. She felt broken. Even though she didn’t know Coulson, she felt responsible for his death. She could’ve moved from her spot, stopped Loki from his mission, but she didn’t. For some reason, she didn’t. She had stayed, because she was scared.

“Grey?” Tony muttered, rubbing his thumb against her hand. She looked up at him and he faltered, shaking his head at her bloody, tear tracked face.  
Grey felt fresh tears start rolling down her cheeks, and she looked back down at the table. “I wasn’t strong enough, Tony. I didn’t stop him.”

He shook his head and moved his hands to her cheeks to rub the tears away. “That’s not true,” he whispered, making sure he was listening to him, “he would’ve killed you if you went in there. And I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if you got hurt and I wasn’t there to protect you.” Tony pulled his hands away and intertwined their fingers again. 

Before she could reply, Grey was interrupted by the entrance of Fury. A solemn air surrounded him as he walked, and Grey could tell he was mourning the loss of his best agent. 

“These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket,” he threw a pack of Captain America trading cards on the table in front of them. “Guess he never did get you to sign them.  
Grey let out a choked noise as Steve held them up; they were stained with blood. Tony moved his hand from hers and wrapped his arm around her. Grey pushed her face into his chest, before vanishing. Tony could feel her shaking, and hear the tiny sobs which escaped her mouth. 

“We’re dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye.” Fury paused, looking at them gravely. “Maybe I had that coming.”

He paused for a second and surveyed Tony and Grey before continuing. “Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called ‘The Avengers Initiative.” 

Grey looked up at the mention of Tony’s name, revealing herself to look up at the man himself. Tony looked back down, his expression unreadable.

“The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could.” Fury stood tall, staring at each hero in front of him in turn. “Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes.”  
Tony gently pushed Grey off him, before scraping his chair back from the conference table and walking out of the room, unable to listen to Fury anymore. Grey watched him leave, already craving his touch again. 

“I’m sorry, Grey.” Steve said quietly, and she turned her head to look at him, wiping her tears away.

“For what?”

“For arguing. Back in the lab. I was just defensive.” He muttered, looking down at the playing cards in his hand.

She took a breath, before she shook her head. “It’s fine. I was being defensive too. I guess everyone was tense back then.” She gave him a weak smile. Steve looked back at her and returned the expression, before nodding in the direction Tony had walked off in. 

“You should follow him.” 

Grey looked in the same direction, before unfolding herself from the chair and following after Tony. After travelling the hallways for a while, she eventually found him back in the room where Coulson died, staring at the empty cell container. Grey took a breath before she stepped in. The wall was still splattered with blood, and Grey felt her chest tighten.

She swallowed and turned her attention back on the man in front of her. 

“Stark?” Grey hesitated slightly before she walked up to Tony, resting her hand on his shoulder and looking up at him with concern. “Tony?”

Tony’s Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed, before he said with a cracked voice. “The solider is right. I’m not a hero.”

“What?” Grey frowned before moving to face him. “Stop talking nonsense, Stark.”

“I don’t belong here with the rest of you.” Tony pointed in the direction of the conference room. “Rogers is the pure definition of an Avenger. I know you did the reading, Grey, I know you’ve researched him.”

“You’re correct, I... I did read about him, and his story is fascinating.” Grey reached forward and took one of Tony’s hands in her own, tugging on it so he focused on her. “But I researched you as well Tony. I know everything you’ve done as well.”

“It doesn’t count.”

“You were all over the news in England, Tony. Your kidnapping, the death of Obadiah Stane, when you revealed you were actually Iron Man.” She placed a hand on Tony’s cheek, and Tony ignored the spark which travelled down his spine at the touch. “And then everything with Justin Hammer. Just because you haven’t fought in a war doesn’t mean you’re not a hero to people.”

Tony leaned into Grey’s hand, placing his own over hers. “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for myself.” Grey saw as his eyes became glassy. “I’m not hero material.”

“I don’t believe you, Tony.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but then the sound of footsteps entered the room. Tony pushed Grey’s hand off and quickly wiped his eyes. Steve walked in, frowning when he saw the two together. He quickly adverted his eyes, before gesturing to the spot where Coulson died. 

“Was he married?”

“No. There was a... uh... cellist, I think.” Tony immediately reverted back to his normal, conceited self, his personality switching in a second. Grey felt slightly put out, but wrapped her arms around herself instead.

Steve nodded, swallowing slightly. “I’m sorry. He seemed like a good man.”

“He was an idiot.”

“Why?” Steve asked, shocked at Tony’s bluntness. 

Grey looked up at him, and said in a small voice. “For believing?” 

Tony gave her a lingering stare, before he trained his eyes on Steve. “For taking on Loki alone.”

“He was doing his job.” Steve uttered. 

“He was out of his league.” Tony paused. “He should’ve waited. He should’ve...”

“Sometimes there isn’t a way out.” 

Tony walked away from them both, shaking his head. “Right. How did that work for him?”

“Is this the first time you’ve lost a soldier?” Steve watched Tony carefully. He had moved closer to Grey, a protective aura surrounding him.

“We are not soldiers!” Tony exclaimed, turning around sharply. He glared at Steve, not liking the limited space between him and Grey. “I am not marching to Fury’s fife!”

“Neither am I! He’s got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we’ve got to put that aside and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list...” Steve trailed off as he realised neither of the two were listening. They were both staring at the blood stained wall. Grey was visually faded – she looked like she’d walked out of an old VHS tape. 

“He made it personal.” Tony muttered, his eyes still trained on the splats of red liquid which now decorated the room.

“That’s not the point.”

“That is the point.” Tony broke out of his trance, his eyebrows narrowed as he started thinking. “That’s Loki’s point. He hurt us all right where we live. Why?”

Grey came back into full vision, frowning over at Tony. “To tear us apart - which he’s succeeded at. I saw Thor get dropped out of the sky and we don’t even know where Bruce is.

“He had to conquer his greed, but he know he has to take us out to win, right? That’s what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience.”

Steve nodded, glancing at Grey. “Right, we caught his act at Stuttengard.”

“Yeah, that’s just a preview – this is opening night.” Tony’s eyes sparkled as he spoke, his voice getting louder. “Loki’s a full tilt diva. He wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered...”

He paused. Grey’s eyes widened as she breathed the next two words. “Stark Tower.”

“Son of a bitch!”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the subtle Tony x Grey interaction in this chapter, I hope you guys do too! Kind of a filler chapter, but the next couple of chapters will be the fight scene, so stay tuned.

“Is it safe?” Grey mumbled as she watched Tony suit up. Steve, having easily fallen back into his role as Captain, had already given out orders for the New Plan. Tony would take Grey and fly to New York to distract Loki (“Are we taking a plane?” “I’m just gonna hold you, it’s not far.” “What.”), while Natasha, Steve and the newly acquired Clint Barton would arrive in one of the quinjets. Grey had yet to meet the infamous archer.

They hoped Bruce and Thor would’ve figured out Loki’s plan.

“I’m not gonna drop you.” Tony kept his helmet up as he grinned down at Grey, who raised her eyebrow. 

“I don’t trust you.”

He placed his metal hand over the spot covering his chest, wincing. “That hurt my heart, Shadow.” Grey gently smacked him on the arm.

“It’ll seriously be okay?” She asked again; worry having laced itself through her words. She wasn’t just talking about the flight. Tony looked down at her and spoke without a trace of comedy.

“I promise. It’ll be fine.” 

Grey took a stuttering breath, before looking back down at herself. Maria had given her another specially rendered suit, seeing as her original one was covered in blood. The dried redness had been scrubbed off her cheeks and hands, but there were still flakes under her nails. She didn’t realise she had been staring at them until the hand of Tony’s suit slipped into hers. Grey looked up at him and smiled, shaking off her anxiety.

“So, what’s the plan when we get in there?”

“I want you to stay visible. I’ll do most of the talking.”

Grey rolled her eyes. “As usual.”

“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that.” Tony shot her a wink, and then shrugged nonchalantly. “If I happen to get thrown of the building, don’t freak out.”

“But-”

“Just keep him distracted.”

“How?”

Tony shifted slightly. “Use your womanly charms.” He accepted the second smack he received. “Okay, I deserved that.”

Steve’s voice suddenly rang through their earpieces, sounding as righteous as a hero should. “You two should shoot of. Word is Loki is at the tower.” Tony’s face broke into a smirk.

“Ready to go for a ride?”

“This is the only ride you’re ever getting from me, Stark.”

\---------------------------------------

After the longest flight of her life, Grey could finally see Stark Tower. She had disappeared from fright, and she had held her arms so tightly around Tony’s neck that they had cramped. She heard Tony’s chuckle through the earphone in her ear, and rolled her eyes.

As they neared the tower, Grey spied the figure on the balcony. She frowned as she realised it was Loki, back in his extravagant golden armour. He was staring right at them.

“Hold on, baby.” Tony mumbled, before she felt him slow down and hover. Grey peered over his shoulder in disbelief; in front of them was the device holding the Tesseract, a bright blue light glowing from it – the same shade of blue which was Loki’s eye colour. An older man stood next to the contraption, looking exhausted. Selvig. Grey recognised him from their previous work together, but this time he clearly had the aura of a madman.

“Shut it down, Doctor Selvig.”

“It’s too late!” yelled Selvig, his smile bordering on crazy. “It can’t stop now. He wants to show us something! A new universe.”

Grey felt Tony pull her closer, tighter, to him, before shrugging. “Okay.” He aimed his hand towards the Tesseract and fired.

A blast of energy shook the air around them. Grey yelped as they were pushed backwards slightly, compressing her hold on Tony so hard she nearly popped a finger socket. Selvig had fallen back, and was lying unconscious on the roof. 

“Please put me down before you do that again.” Grey whined slightly, and she could practically hear Tony’s smirk.

“Alright, think it’s time to land.”

Loki was still on the balcony when Tony lowered himself. His dangerous eyes were trained on the man in front of him – he didn’t seem to notice that Tony wasn’t alone. Grey hopped out of Tony’s grip, and materialised in front of Loki. His eyebrows rose in surprise, and she gave him a jaunty wave. He smiled before he turned and walked back into the tower, sceptre in hand.

Tony had walked through the gauntlet which had unsuited him, and he arrived next to Grey. He placed his hand on her lower back, looking down at her.

“I promised, we’re going to be okay.” He whispered to her, his lips gently pressing to the side of her head. Grey nodded, shivering slightly.

“Let’s get this started,”

They walked into the tower, and Grey took a minute to look around. In reality, she was impressed with the craftsmanship which had obviously gone into the making of the building. Everything was sleek and modernised – and highly expensive. It was a lot different from her home in London, that was definite.

Tony left Grey’s side as Loki walked in, and headed to the bar. Grey leaned against it, crossing her arms and fixing Loki with a steely look.

“Please tell me you’re going to appeal to my humanity.” Loki sneered.

Tony shot him a smile. “Uh... actually, we’re planning to threaten you.” 

Loki chuckled dryly. “You should’ve left your armour on for that. The girl’s already revealed to me that she’s here, so she’s useless to you now.”

“I think you need to watch your mouth.” Tony’s jaw was clenched, before he rolled his shoulders and nodded. “I guess my armour has seen a bit of mileage. You’ve got the blue stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?”

“Stalling me won’t change anything.”

“No, no, no! Threatening.” Tony corrected him. “No drink? You sure? I’m having one. Shadow’s having one.”

He slid a bottle of something or another in Grey’s direction, and she caught it with a smile. She brought the bottle to her lips, taking a sip. She felt both pairs of eyes on her.

“The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?” Loki asked, an amused expression on his face.

“The Avengers.” Grey said casually as she took another sip of her drink, enjoying the look of confusion Loki shot her. “It’s what we call ourselves – sort of like a team. ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ type of thing.”

Loki fixed her with a devilish stare. “Yes, I’ve met them.”

Grey flashed him a charming smile. “Takes us a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that one.”

“But, let’s do a headcount here. Your brother, the demi-God; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple master assassins;” Tony smirked over at Grey. “And a British vanishing act. You, big fella, you have managed to piss off every single one of them.”

“That was the plan.”

“Not a great plan.” Grey pushed herself off the bar, walking closer to Loki. “When the team comes, and they will, they’ll come for you, and you better pray to Daddy that they don’t rip you limb from limb.”

“I have an army.” Loki prowled up to her, but was interrupted by Tony pushing himself between them. 

“We have a Hulk.”

Grey noted the new bracelets on Tony’s wrists, the plan forming in her mind. She knew what Tony was going to do, so she smirked.

“I thought the beast had wondered of.” Loki said absentmindedly.

“You’re missing the point. There’s no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you. Because if we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we’re going to avenge it.”

Grey felt her heart swell after hearing Tony’s words, pride filling her body. She hadn’t felt strong enough to be an Avenger, but there was nothing that was going to stop her from trying.

Loki slowly sauntered towards Tony, raising his sceptre with an evil glare. “How will your friends have time for me... when they’re so busy fighting you?” Grey’s eyes widened as she realised what he was about to do.

“No!” 

Tony felt himself be pushed out of Loki’s way, and yelled as he realised Grey’s chest had been pierced with the sceptre. He saw her brown eyes flush with the blue that filled her attackers, and his heart shattered.

"Grey!"

Suddenly, a flash of bright electrical light erupted from the point Loki had spiked in Grey’s body, forcing Loki backwards and the sceptre out of his hand. Tony covered his eyes at the blinding light, only removing his fingers when it died down. 

Grey had stumbled back slightly, her face significantly paler than before and a trickle of blood running down her chest; the sceptre had only just cut her skin. Tony’s face broke out into a bright smile, and he quickly moved to catch her before she fell in exhaustion. He held her up, before looking up at Loki, who was staring at Grey in confusion. 

“It should work.” He said quietly.

“Well, performance issues, you know?” Tony quipped, but was caught off guard by Loki forcefully grabbing him by the throat, flinging him across the room. Grey tumbled onto the floor, groaning quietly as she looked up. 

“Tony?”

Grey struggled to move, only being able to watch as Loki took Tony by the throat again. “You will all fall before me.” He snarled, only to throw Tony out of the window of Stark Tower. Grey tried to stand, but faltered, and Tony’s words replayed in her head. “If I happen to get thrown of the building, don’t freak out.”

Loki turned to her, his expression deadly and his eyes furious. He picked the sceptre back up from where Grey’s explosion had knocked it out of his hand, and advanced to her.

“If I can’t control you, I may as well kill you.” He growled. “You have no use, to anybody, like this.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Hope you all enjoy it :)

Grey didn’t try to escape Loki as he seized her by the throat and forcefully pushed her against the nearest wall. She didn’t even struggle when he started slowly pressing down on her windpipe, cutting of her air supply.

“You will submit.” He mumbled forcefully, a murderous glint in his eye.

“Never to you.” Grey choked out, staring fiercely up at her attacker.

Before he could finally kill her, a metallic sound filled the air. Both Grey and Loki turned to the window to see Tony hovering there, in full Iron Man armour, his hand outstretched in Loki’s direction.

“And there’s another person you pissed off!” Tony sharpened his aim. “His name was Phil.”

Loki threw Grey to the ground before he raised the sceptre. Tony anticipated the move, firing at him before he could retaliate, and he sent Loki flying across the Tower floor.

Tony quickly ran to Grey’s side. She coughed, her own hand rubbing the fingerprints on her neck as she sat up. Tony flicked his visor up, looking down in concern.

“You okay?” he asked, his metal hands moving to cub her cheeks. She nodded, her eyes not leaving his.

“That was a close one.” Grey mumbled softly, “for both of us.”

Tony cracked a small smile, resting his forehead on hers in relief. Grey could feel his breath against her lips, and her mouth stretched into a smile itself.   
Breaking the moment, a loud crack sound from above them, forcing the two to jump apart in fear – the Tesseract’s energy had blasted up into the sky, forming an open vortex. Tony and Grey both looked out of the broken window; the sky had suddenly filled with alien creatures riding in chariots through the air, chattering and screeching.

“Right. Army.” Tony quickly pressed his lips against Grey’s forehead, closing his eyes for just one second before mumbling to her. “Get down to the street, find Cap. I’ll see you after the battle, I promise.”

Grey gulped slightly. “Stay safe.”

“Stay safe.” Tony breathed, before pulling away and closing his helmet. He flew off out of the smashed window, and Grey soon heard the explosions and screams of dying Chitauri. 

Grey quickly made her way downstairs, making sure he gun was loaded and she was completely invisible. Above her, she could see Tony shooting at each of the aliens, but her focus was soon drawn on another flying figure in the sky; Thor had arrived.

The battle ensued – Chitauri littered the streets, clumping around groups of civilians like bacteria. Grey focused on these squadrons, silently and invisibly shooting them while ushering the civilian out of their hiding places and into safe zones.

After exterminating another group, Grey eyed one of her victims dropped guns, and her skin crawled at the dark energy flowing from it. She took a breath, before picking it up. It whirred happily in her hands, and her eyebrow rose.

“Let’s see what this thing does.”

Every shot with the alien gun forced more energy into Grey, and soon she was fizzing, popping, crackling. Every kick with her boot had sent sparks flying, and each punch felt like a lightning bolt flew from her hand. She laughed as she did it, quickly clearing each space of Chitauri.

Still giggling, Grey’s eyes locked on the three figures running towards her; Steve, Nat, and one she only knew from pictures – Clint.

When the three joined her, Grey hugged Natasha and Steve tightly. “I’m glad you’re here. I could use the help.”

“Looks like you’re doing just fine on your own.” Grey looked at Clint, before smiling and holding her hand out for him to shake.

“Grey. I turn invisible.”

“Clint. I like to shoot things.”

In the midst of their conversation, a deep primal roar bellowed through the sky. As the four looked up at the portal, a long, scaly, Leviathan emerged from it. Hundreds of Chitauri soldiers clung to it from both sides – some jumped off and onto buildings, and began firing energy beams at civilians.

“Stark, are you seeing this?” Steve asked into the intercom, and Grey heard Tony’s voice come through her ear.

“I’m seeing, still working on believing. Where’s Banner, has he shown up yet?”

“Banner?” Grey asked, confused.

“Just keep me posted.” 

From where they were stood, the team could see Tony flying above them, continuing to shoot down the aliens. Grey watched, worry capturing her over the man she had grown fond of in the last few hours.

“Let’s keep moving.” Natasha said, gesturing for the three to follow her behind two upturned taxis. Grey looked up, seeing Loki riding on one of the chariots himself. He was being followed by a group of Chitauri, and Grey watched as terrified people ran from them. Steve observed in concern.

“Those people need assistance down there. Care to join me, Grey?” He asked her, and she nodded with a determined look, holding the Chitauri gun tightly.

Suddenly, energy blasts started showering over them. The group of aliens had started surrounding them. Nat pulled out her gun and started firing back at them, before she turned to Steve.

“We got this. It’s good. Go!”

Grey nodded to Clint. “You think you can hold them off?”

“Darling,” Clint pulled a trigger on his bow and an arrow was mechanically chosen. He smirked at Grey. “It would be my genuine pleasure.”

He whirled around and shot an arrow into one of the creatures, giving Grey and Steve a second’s head start. They dropped down onto the bridge, and raced to the plaza. Grey watched, astounded as Steve jumped over burning cars and dodged Chitauri bullets. 

“Calm down, Cap!” She yelled out, a smile on her face. Steve looked back at her and gave her a wry smile. They made their way to the group of police officers littering the end of the street.

Steve ran out in front of them and started yelling orders. As Grey joined him, she saw one of the younger cops eyeing her – specifically the large alien weapon in her hand. She smiled sheepishly at him.

“I need men in these buildings. There are people inside that can run into the line of fire. You take them through the basement or through the subway. You keep them off the streets, I need a perimeter as far back as 39th.” Steve shouted. Grey watched intently, seeming transported back to the War, and Steve was calling to his old comrades.

One police men stared at them. skeptical, before yelling back, “Why the hell should I take orders from you two?”

Suddenly, a blast went off behind the two heroes. Steve blocked an energy beam with his shield and Grey started to shoot at each of the Chitauri, focusing on defending the Captain who was standing next to her. After the aliens were defeated, Grey turned back to the policemen with raised eyebrows.

“So?”

The Sergeant stared at her with a gaping mouth, before turning and commanding his squadron. “I need men in those buildings, lead the people down and away from the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th.”

Steve turned to Grey with a smile, nodding approvingly at her, before they made their way back down to Natasha and Clint. As the two reached the others, Grey watched as Clint rammed an arrow down one Chitauri’s neck, and Natasha acquired herself an energy rifle. They joined the fight, Steve using his shield to slap oncoming Chitauri out of the way and Grey abandoning her empty gun in favour of kicks and punches. They keep battling, but the onslaught of aliens was becoming too much for them; Grey found herself becoming tired, the energy that previously filled her veins had run out. 

Just as the amount of creatures became overbearing, lightening struck down from the sky. Each Chitauri soldier was blasted back in the massive shockwave, each convulsing and screaming until they dropped dead to the ground. Grey felt the energy surge through her, and she felt alert again, her eyes wide and a re-ignited smile on her face. She watched as Thor touched down, and he bowed his head to her.

“Lady Grey, I see you have found your power.” 

She nodded back with a shrug. “I guess I have.”

“What’s the story upstairs?” Steve asked, placing his shield back on his back. Natasha and Clint both walked over to join the conversation, each a dirty, bloody mess, but uninjured.

“The powers surrounding the cube are impenetrable.” Thor explained, after informing them of his one on one with his brother on the top of Stark Tower. 

Tony’s voice finally appeared through their earpieces, “Thor is right. We gotta deal with these guys.”

Natasha looked around with a small frown, accepting the plan. “How do we do this?”

“As a team.” Steve said firmly, looking each hero in the eye. Grey felt a small swell of pride from being in a team.

“I have unfinished business with Loki.” Thor said sternly. Grey nodded, her hand going back to her neck as her appearance flickered. 

“So do I.”

“Oh yeah?” Clint said, sharpening one of his arrows. “Get in line.”

“Save it.” Steve commanded. “Loki’s gonna keep this fight focused on us and that’s what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark on top, he’s gonna need us...”

Grey tuned out, the sound of an engine appearing behind her. She frowned, and turned away from the group to look down the street. Her face broke out into a smile when she saw who the noise belonged to.

“Guys,” she interrupted Steve, who turned to look in her direction. “Tony was right.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very filler-y chapter, mostly fight scenes. I wanted to write it just to space out the story a bit. Only two chapters left everyone! I don't really like the ending, but the chapter after this is good so I didn't want to change it by changing the endings. Oh well!

“So this all seems... horrible.”

Grey smiled widely at the man in front of her, before running over to hug him tightly. He let his stolen motorbike fall as he hugged her back. She sighed into his shoulder. “It’s good to see you.”

“And you.” He mumbled back, pulling away with a small smile. He looked back at the others.

Natasha frowned over at him. “I’ve seen worse.”

“Sorry.”

“No,” she shook her head, before smiling again. “We could use a little worse.”

Steve spoke seriously into his earpiece. “Stark? We got him.”

“Banner?”

“Just like you said.” Grey said happily. She listened to Tony, and she could tell from his voice that he was relieved his friend had shown up.

“Then tell him to suit up. I’m bringing the party to you.”

The group looked back up at the sky as Tony soared out from behind a building. Their happiness turned to fear as a massive Chitauri Leviathan followed in pursuit, roaring impatiently. The team stood straighter, a tense feeling overcoming them.

“I...I...” Grey started, but she couldn’t complete the sentence as she looked up at the beast coming towards them.

Natasha stood next to her, her own eyes wide. “...I don’t see how that’s a party...”

They watched as Tony swerved chariots as the Leviathan barrelled down the street like a freight train, gaining speed and intensity as it flew after Tony. Bruce started walking towards it nonchalantly, and Grey frowned.

“Doctor Banner, now might be a really good time to get angry.” Steve warned.

Bruce looked back at them with a small smile as he continued to walk towards the monster. “That’s my secret, Captain. I’m always angry.” 

The man’s body grew into the large, green mass which was the Hulk, a snarl coming from deep in its throat. It raised its enormous fist and smashed the Leviathan on the nose, causing the creature’s nose to crinkle up and crunch together, its body flipping over in a 180 degree twist. Grey watched in terrified awe as Tony shot the weak underbelly of the beast – a scream of pain ripped through it as fiery pieces of flesh flew off it, hitting the ground around them. Steve grabbed Grey and tugged her to his side as he raised his shield to block the sizzling pieces of meat.

Their moment of success was interrupted by more roars filling the air. Grey looked up from under Steve, seeing thousands of more Chitauri soldiers and several Leviathans fly out of the vortex in the sky. Steve put down his shield, and Grey stood up straight. Tony landed next to her, and she inched closer to him.

“Guys...” she said worriedly, looking around.

Tony nodded at Steve. “Call it, Cap.”

Steve took a breath, before nodding and turning to the team. “Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, were gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out the patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash.”

Clint looked back at Tony, smirking. “Wanna give me a lift?”

“Right,” Tony said, his hands cupping under Clint’s arms as he lifted him. “Better clench up, Legolas.” 

“Thor, you’ve gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You’ve got the lightning. Light the bastards up.” Steve ordered. Thor nodded firmly; he whirled Mjolnir around in his hand before flying up back into the sky.

Steve turned to Grey and Natasha. “Us, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. Grey, use your new energy electricity thing – the energy guns seem to do the work.” The two girls nodded, both determined, and Grey grabbed the nearest abandoned Chitauri weapon, arming herself with it.

“And Hulk,” Steve looked back up at the Hulk, which stared down at the three. “Smash.”

The Hulk’s face stretched into a magnificent grin, and it leapt off the street onto a nearby building, snapping Chitauri soldiers in half and smacking the living ones with the corpses of their brothers. Grey watched in amazement, her eyes widening and a small laugh coming from her mouth as the Hulk flew from building to chariot, killing every creature in its path.

Wave after wave of aliens swam over Steve, Grey and Natasha, and they each tiresomely worked to eradicate the swarms. Although Grey was buzzing with energy from the guns, she was physically exhausted, and she leaned against an upturned car when the trio finally cleared the area around them.

“Captain,” Grey panted, clutching her bruised side. “None of this is going to mean a thing if we don’t close the vortex.”

Steve shook his head. “Our biggest guns couldn’t touch it.”

“Maybe it’s not about guns.” Natasha gestured to the chariots flying above them. Grey stood up straight, and smirked slightly.

“I like how you think, Nat. But if you want to get up there, you’re going to need a ride.”

“I got a ride,” she turned to Steve. “I could use a lift.”

After pausing a moment to understand what Natasha was insinuating, Steve angled his shield as Nat backed up to give herself a running start. Grey used the last of the energy gun to kill the remaining Chitauri attempting to crawl to them. 

“Are you sure about this?” Steve asked in concern.

Natasha cricked her neck, before smiling. “Yeah. It’s going to be fun.”

She took a running jump and leapt onto Steve’s shield, and he boosted her up. Grey shot at a Chitauri attempting to grab at Natasha’s leg, before she grabbed at the chariot flying above her and was whisked off through the air. Grey watched her fly off, before turning back to Steve. She was faded visibly, a sure sign of her tiring. 

“You okay?” Steve frowned, checking her over. “You don’t look too good.”

“Nat will find a way to shut it down.” Grey winced as she pressed against one of the many bruises on her ribcage. “Till then, we just have to keep going.”

Another invasion of Chitauri had started skittering towards them, and Grey lugged the heavy gun back into her arms, heading right back into fight mode. During the battle, Tony had swooped down to help them.

“All good here, Shadow?” He asked as he fired his repulsors at each alien. Grey smiled a little when she heard his voice. 

“We got it, Stark.” 

Tony briefly flicked up his visor, his face scratched. He shot her a wink. “Keep kicking ass.”

Grey nodded at him as he flew back up, feeling a little better after having spoke to him.

Each Avenger was preoccupied with their own group of monsters. Grey spotted Thor and the Hulk atop of another of the Leviathan. She tried to keep her eye on them, but her concentration was soon taken by the Chitauri attempting to shoot at her. She didn’t notice the Hulk stab the creature with a massive piece of armour. She didn’t notice the shriek of pain as her own groans at being hit over took her.

What Grey did notice was the lightning bolt that wracked through her body. She dropped the gun which was in her grasp, her hands going up to cover her eyes as she buzzed and popped, flashing in and out of visibility. Steve looked around, his eyes widening at the image he saw.

“Grey!”

Grey dropped back to the ground from the height she had been floating, the breath knocked out of her body. A glow of electricity surrounded her as her eyes open, perhaps brighter and more alert than they ever had been. She sat up, the movement swift and speedy. Grey laughed.

“Whatever the fuck that was, it felt good.” She looked up at the sky and gave a thumbs up. “Thanks, Thor.”

Clint’s voice sounded through her earpiece; he sounded exhausted. “The bank on 42nd past Madison – they caught a lot of civilians there.”

“I got it!” Grey said, her voice eager. She jumped out, her fingers crackling with electricity as she flickered. “Keep the fort down here, Cap.”

Steve saluted her, and Grey quickly made her way to the bank. She expertly dodged bullets and used her own gun to shoot energy beams back. As she saw the bank appear, terrified screams emerged from it, and Grey knew she had to get inside as quickly as she could. 

“Not getting in that way.” She grumbled as she saw the door was blocked by a car. She shrugged, sighing. “Guess I’m feeling a bit more adventurous today.” 

Smashing through the window, Grey threw the Chitauri gun at the nearest alien. She dived for cover under a desk, escaping the line of fire. She kicked said desk in the direction of the guard. Grey kicked one in the chest, causing it to topple over the railing in the bank, while she pulled out one of the throwing knives in the side of her boot and cut the throat of the other. A nasty beeping reached her ears, and she looked at the ground in annoyance.

“A bomb? Really?” Grey looked around at the civilians around her, before yelling loudly, “Everyone! Clear out!”

Grey quickly ushered everyone out, before the bomb suddenly detonated, killing the final Chitauri guard and blasting Grey out onto the street. She landed on a car and groaned at the hit, coughing as the wind was knocked out of her. She wiped the ash and dirt from her face, finally coming back into full focus.

“That was fun.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grey had returned to the battle, sporting a brand new cut on her cheek to go with the rest of her injuries. Steve and Thor were fighting in the middle of the street, and Grey joined them, cocking her pistol and emptying the bullets into numerous aliens. 

Steve shot Grey a drained smile, and Thor grinned widely when he saw her. “Lady Grey! Did you enjoy my gift?” he yelled cheerfully as he crunched a Chitauri under Mjolnir. 

Grey spun around to elbow one alien in the throat, feeling an electrical charge move through her bone. She shot Thor a smirk. “It was a welcome relief. Thanks for it.”

“After the battle, we can continue to explore your new ability.” He called, bashing away a group of Chitauri which were inching a little too close. Grey smiled widely, diving headfirst back into the fight. The three of them cleared their spot in a few minutes.

Grey helped Steve back up from where a soldier had knocked him down, passing him his shield which had rolled out of his grasp. “Are you ready for another bout?” Thor asked happily, laughing at their tired faces.

“What? You getting sleepy?” Steve quipped, and Grey laughed, taking the moment to look around her. Manhattan was all but destroyed; bodies of Chitauri fighters littered the street along with smashed up cars and streetlamps. In the distance, Grey saw the massive corpse of a Leviathan. 

Suddenly, for the first time in a while, a voice echoed over their ear pieces. It was Natasha. “I can close it! Can anybody hear me?” She sounded terrified, and exhausted, like the rest of them. “I can shut the portal down!”

“Do it, Nat!” Grey said quickly, her eyes wide with hope that maybe this could finally be over, the fear that had wrapped itself around her lessening slightly.

Steve looked up at her with a hopeful expression. “Do it!”

“No, wait!”

Grey frowned when she heard Tony’s outburst, looking around at the portal to see more Leviathans swimming out of it. “Tony, these things are still coming!”

“I got a nuke coming in, it’s gonna blow in less than a minute.” Tony paused for a moment. “And I know just where to put it.”

Grey felt the fear twist even tighter around her. It felt like it was strangling her; pulling and wrenching against her skin. Her entire body shook as she realised what he was saying. 

“Tony, you can’t do that.” She croaked out, a choking feeling stopping her words from escaping her mouth. “Please don’t do that.”

She thought she heard Tony sniff, before he replied to her, his own voice sounding strained. “I have to do it. Innocent people will die.”

“We’ll find another way!” Grey wailed, looking over at Steve and Thor, “right? There’s another way to do this?”

Steve looked at her with concern, before saying solemnly into his earpiece. “Stark, you know that’s a one-way trip?”

Grey stared at Steve in betrayal, before trying to lunge at him. She didn’t make it very far; Thor had wrapped one strong arm around her waist to stop her from jumping on the Captain in front of them.

“You traitor!” she screamed, tears already falling from her eyes. Thor held her tightly as she sobbed and struggled in his grip. Steve’s words replayed in her mind, the words he had yelled at Tony merely hours before. ‘The only thing you really fight for is yourself’.   
Overhead, Tony flew up to the portal, climbing higher and higher into the sky. Grey watched as he flung himself into the portal, and she felt her whole body freeze.

“Tony?” she said weakly, hoping the earpieces were still working.

Nothing.

Seconds passed, and there was no sign of Tony. Thor, Steve and Grey all stared up into the sky, their eyes hopeful. Grey had stopped wriggling in Thor’s arms, too tired to fight anymore. Dry tear tracks rested on her cheeks as she sniffed, her eyes still filled with wetness.

Suddenly, around them, every Chitauri soldier knelt over, shaking on the ground. Grey looked at them in panic, and jumped when a Leviathan came crashing down nearby, it’s eyes dead. 

“He’s done it.” Grey mumbled, a small smile on her face. “He’s stopped them!” 

She looked at Steve, confused at the fact he didn’t seem as excited as her. Grey glanced back at the portal and frowned. “Where is he?”

“That supernova’s coming right for us.” Steve said, worry on his face. “Grey, we have to close it.” 

“He’s going to make it back.” Grey said forcefully, glaring at Steve.

Thor shifted slightly, sorrow traced in his words. “Lady Grey...”

“He will!”

Steve looked down at her in concern, before turning away, his hand on the earpiece.   
“Close it.”

“Natasha, don’t you dare-!”

Grey watched as the energy beam shut off, shaking her head in disbelief. Tony was still in there. The man she had unexpectedly grown to adore was in that portal, and his teammates were just willing to leave him to die. She looked over at Steve, anger and hurt balling up in her stomach, and she pushed her way out of Thor’s arms, unintentionally sending a shockwave down the God’s wrist and arm. She stormed over to Steve, who backed up when he saw her approaching him.

“It’s your fault he went up there.” She choked out, tears now covering her face. 

“Grey-”

“You were the one who said he wasn’t a hero, you’re the one who put those ideas in his head!”

“Grey!”

Steve pointed at something above her, his eyes wide and his smile growing. Grey frowned in confusion before she turned around, looking at what Steve was pointing at. Falling through the sky was a man. Iron Man.

Grey’s face broke out into a teary smile. “He made it.”

“Son of a gun.” Steve said fondly, obvious relief in his voice.

The relief was short lived; Tony was still falling. 

“He- He’s not slowing down.” Grey whispered, her voice cracking. She glanced over at Thor, who had started swinging Mjolnir around in his hand, gaining momentum. Before he could fly off, a bellow drove through the sky, and the Hulk sprung out of nowhere.

Grey watched on in concern as the Hulk snagged Tony out of the air, gently lowering him to the ground near them. Grey ran over to Tony, stumbling onto her knees next to his unconscious body. She gazed down at the man before her, and sobbed. 

“Tony, please wake up.” She whimpered, her hand brushing against Tony’s cheek. Tears fell from her cheeks onto the face of the man below her, and she felt a hand against her back. She tearfully peered up into Steve’s face, and he rubbed her back slightly.

“I’m sorry, Grey.”

Grey sniffed, wiping her eyes and sitting back, defeated. “I-”

The Hulk suddenly gave a deafening roar; one which rattled the skulls of each person standing anywhere near the beast. Grey jumped in fright – she wasn’t the only one who did.

“What the hell!” a voice from below her yelped, alarm in its tone. Grey glanced down in confusion, frowning.

“Tony?”

“What just happened?” Tony panted, his chest rising and falling with every quick breath he took. His face was badly bruised and cut, dried blood patches travelling from his head down his neck. “Please tell me nobody kissed me.”

Grey smiled weakly, her hand moving to cup Tony’s cheek in adoration and relief. Without thinking, she bent down and pressed her own bloody, chapped lips against his, relishing in the knowledge that he was alive through the movement of his jaw under her hand. She felt his lips curve up into the smirk that was almost permanently attached to his face, and she smiled herself. Tony was alive, and that was all that mattered.

A polite but awkward cough caused Grey to pull away, her cheeks flushed. Tony’s eyes were bright and his smile wide as he looked up at the girl in front of him. “Well - I’m glad somebody did kiss me.”

Steve’s cheeks were pink as he watched the interaction, and he cleared his throat. “Uh, Stark, we won.”

“Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys.” Tony said breathily, staying led on the floor - he was evidently traumatized over his near death experience, and perhaps the kiss. “Let’s just not come in tomorrow. Let’s just take a day. Grey, you and I can hang out. Have you ever tried shawarma?” He kept going, despite the flummoxed looks on the groups’ faces. “There’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is, but I wanna try it.”

Grey smiled fondly, her hand moving to run itself through Tony’s hair. He gazed up at her, a loving expression on his face.

Thor broke the silence with a grave sound. “We are not finished yet.”

Tony gulped, looking around at all of them. “And then shawarma after?”

\-----------------------

Grey stared at the inanimate God in front of her, confusion on her face. Loki looked almost serene when he was unconscious - too bad she knew what an absolute psychopath he was; the marks around her neck wouldn’t allow her to forget. He winced as he woke up, broken glass clinking below him as he moved. Loki stiffened before he turned, and he groaned slightly.

Grey, Tony, Steve, Thor, the Hulk, Natasha, and Clint were stood there, all equally pissed. Clint drew his bow tighter, Grey loaded a Chitauri weapon which crackled with electricity, and Tony’s reactors whirred into action.

“If it’s all the same to you,” Loki said, his tone completely defeated. “I’ll have that drink now.”

The Hulk snorted, and Grey looked at Loki curiously. His eyes were green.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter people. It's been a pleasure writing for you all! I will be writing a sequel based on the events of Age of Ultron and I'm going to be writing some drabbles and one shots for other heroes as well! I'm glad everyone enjoyed my work! Thank you all :D

“Is there nothing more interesting to watch?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

“They’re all talking about us.”

“Not just us – that woman just screamed how much she loves Thor.”

Tony chuckled as he walked into the lounge of his temporary home. Stark Tower was undergoing serious refurbishment. New rooms, new windows, new everything. He collapsed onto the couch in front of the TV, slinging his arm around the shoulders of the girl next to him. Grey was intently watching the news, nibbling on the side of her thumbnail as she concentrated on what the anchor was saying. 

“These so called heroes have to be held responsible for the destruction done to the city.” A politician argued on the screen. “This was their fight. Where are they now?”

“Two of them are trapped in an ugly apartment for god knows how long.” Tony grumbled in annoyance, and Grey nudged him with a small smile.

“Sorry, Billionaire Boy, this was the closest one we could find to the Tower, remember?” she laughed, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

Tony smiled fondly, his fingers tracing absentmindedly over Grey’s shoulder as she focused back on the news. A video of a number of fans started playing; numerous girls shouted Tony’s name, the occasional screaming about Steve or Thor. Grey perked up when she saw one fan with a sign which read one word – ‘Umbra’. The fan looked at the camera with an excited smile, adoration and happiness clear on her face. 

“Do you get used to this?” Grey asked in incredulity, referring to the press and the paparazzi she had experienced in the past couple of days. Tony kissed the side of her head.

“Nope.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, before Grey grabbed Tony’s hand, peering at the expensive watch which sat snugly on his wrist.

“We should get ready, Thor’s taking Loki back to Asgard soon.” She went to stand up, but Tony trapped her hand in his and pulled her back down on the couch with a chuckle. She let out a laugh, curling back into his arms.

“I had a thought.” Tony mused.

“Hm?”

“When I reopen Stark Tower...” He casually ran his hand up and down Grey’s back, a small hitch in his breath from nerves. “I was going to turn it into an Avenger’s compound, for the team.”

Grey looked up at Tony, her hand brushing against his cheek. “I thought you preferred to be alone?”

“Well,” Tony shifted slightly, “Bunking with you for the last week has changed my opinion... slightly.”

Grey smiled widely, before she leaned across to kiss the man next to her slowly. Tony kissed her back, his hand moving to grip her waist tightly. They were lost in each other for a few minutes, silently moving their lips in momentum. Grey pulled away, laughing softly. “Come on, we’re needed, and for the record,” she quickly kissed Tony again, “I’m all for an Avengers Tower.”

\-----------------------------------------------

Grey arrived at Central Park in one of Tony’s fancy cars. During the drive, she had thought back to a few days prior, where she had been huddled alone in her cold London apartment, anxious about her own powers, unknowing about the secret that lay dormant inside of her, and completely unhappy with life.

She remembered opening the door to Nick Fury that evening; she had prepared a night of TV and takeout, perfectly happy with staying invisible for the entire night for there was no one who visited her. She recalled the panic when she saw him, and the anger at having been stalked for so long, and then the dread which had set in.

That dread hadn’t lifted until now.

Grey smiled when she saw the rest of the team; they hadn’t seen each other since the battle ended. S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken Loki in almost immediately, and Grey had stayed by Tony’s side as Bruce checked him over after the portal incident. Natasha and Clint retreated back into the shadows of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Thor had stayed on Earth to visit his girlfriend in New Mexico. 

Natasha came over to hug Grey, the smallest of smiles on her face. Grey hugged her back tightly – she had missed her. She embraced the rest of the team, and she even nodded at Loki with a smirk. His mouth was covered, but his eyes narrowed as he glared at her. Tony pulled her back to his side, his hand encircling her waist as he amiably shook Steve’s hand.

“You two are looking friendly.” Nat said wryly, her eyes flicking between Tony and Grey. Grey rolled her eyes and nudged her friend. 

“Pipe down.” She murmured, smiling at her. Natasha just gave her a knowing look.

Thor walked over, keeping Loki next to him by a chain coming from his handcuffs. “Fellow Warriors, it has been a pleasure to fight with you. You are all, truly, friends. We will see each other again soon, for now I must return to Asgard so Loki can be punished for his crimes.”

“Come back to visit.” Grey said, a little sad to be seeing the Asguardian leave.

Tony nodded, and added “and next time, leave baby brother at home.”

Thor chuckled and nodded in goodbye, before him and Loki walked to the circle in the middle of the park. Selvig was waiting there, looking nervous.

“Dr Selvig!” 

“Grey!” Selvig smiled widely and hugged Grey, before pulling away and frowning down at her, “I am so sorry for what I did, I-”

Grey beamed reassuringly. “It’s okay, Doctor. The Tesseract had you under its magic; nothing you did was your fault.”

The older man smiled kindly down at Grey, before shaking hands with the rest of the team. They turned to the two God’s, who each had a hand on a contraption holding the Tesseract. Grey stood next to Tony and waved at Thor, who waved happily back, before they each twisted their end of the machine and an energy beam blasted down from the sky right on top of them. 

Grey jumped at the sudden flash of light, and the strong energy which emerged from it. She felt it trickle up and down her skin, and she shivered against Tony, the crackles of energy transpiring from her fingertips. She swallowed as the energy suddenly left her, the beam which entrapped Thor and Loki disappearing along with the two Gods. Tony rubbed his hand up and down her back comfortingly – he had felt her tense up.

The group scattered after Thor and Loki had left; Nat and Clint each left in respective S.H.I.E.L.D. cars after both putting their numbers into Grey’s phone. Steve turned to Tony with a raised eyebrow.

“I expect an invitation to visit when Stark Tower is finished.” he said with a grin. “After seeing it destroyed, I realised it isn’t as ugly as I thought.”

Tony smacked him heartily on the shoulder. “Means a lot, Cap. I think you’ll be seeing a lot more of the tower than you think, actually...”

Leaving the two to talk, Grey leaned against Tony’s car. Bruce joined her after packing his bag into the trunk, sighing softly. They stood quietly, the only noise being Tony’s overly-loud voice from a few steps over.

“You know what?” Bruce said, breaking the quiet. “I can’t stop thinking about what you told me, about your family not knowing you’re alive.”

Grey shifted slightly, “I do still think about them sometimes, but I don't even know if they even care that I'm still alive. I'm sure they would've seen me on the news."

“You don't want to reach out to them?"

Shaking her head, Grey looked up at him, before she gave him a smile. “I’ve got a new family now.”

Bruce returned the smile shyly, before he looked up when Tony and Steve walked back over to them. Grey stood straighter when locked eyes with Steve, still embarrassed about shrieking at him when she had thought he’d left Tony to die.

“Steve?” she started worriedly, biting her lip. “I’m sorry about before, about screaming at you. What I said wasn’t right, and we both know that.”

Steve chuckled slightly, shaking his head. “Grey, it’s fine. It’s not the first time a woman has shouted at me in the middle of a warzone, and it probably won’t be the last.”

“You yelled at a pensioner, babe?” Tony asked in amusement, his arm snaking around Grey’s shoulder. He shot her a wink. “That’s my girl.”

“Your girl?”

“Yeah, my girl.” Tony said, glancing down at Grey with a cheeky grin. 

“I don’t remember making this an official thing.” Grey challenged, her eyebrow raising as she turned to face Tony, moving his arm from her shoulder to her waist. Tony shifted slightly.

“Well, let’s make it official now.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now. You know, it’s endearing when you repeat everything I say.”

“Don’t change the subject, Stark.”

“Only if you say yes to being my girlfriend.” Tony shot back quickly, his face breaking out into a smirk, but there was a glint of nerves in his eyes. Grey matched it with her own laugh, winding her arms around his neck and tugging his face to hers.

"Yes."

They sealed it with a kiss.


	18. SEQUEL!

Hi guys!

 

Firstly, just wanted to say thank you all so much for the love you've given this story! I never expected this amount of love from you guys. 

I'm in the process of writing the sequel, inspired by the events of Age of Ultron. i hope you guys enjoy it!

Thank you all again,

 

-  _BobbysGhost_

 

[Medinilla](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16833451/chapters/39516289)


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